Abstract
The thermal conductivity of single crystals of silicon has been measured from 3 to 1580°K and of single crystals of germanium from 3 to 1190°K. These measurements have been made using a steady-state, radial heat flow apparatus for K and a steady-state, longitudinal flow apparatus for K to give absolute values. This radial flow technique eliminates thermal radiation losses at high temperatures. The accuracy of both the low-temperature apparatus and the high-temperature apparatus is approximately ±5%. Some special experimental techniques in using the high-temperature apparatus are briefly considered. At all temperatures the major contribution to in Si and Ge is produced by phonons. The phonon thermal conductivity has been calculated from a combination of the relaxation times for boundary, isotope, three-phonon, and four-phonon scattering, and was found to agree with the experimental measurements. Above 700°K for Ge and 1000°K for Si an electronic contribution to occurs, which agrees quite well with the theoretical estimates. At the respective melting points of Si and Ge, electrons and holes are responsible for 40% of the total and phonons are responsible for 60%. The measured electronic yields values for the thermal band gap at the melting point of 0.6±0.1 eV for Si and 0.26±0.08 eV for Ge.
- Received 11 December 1963
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRev.134.A1058
©1964 American Physical Society