The Temperature-Dependent Thermal Conductivity of C- and O-Doped Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>: First-Principles Calculations

oleh: Hongfei Shao, Jiahao Qiu, Xia Liu, Xuejun Hou, Jinyong Zhang

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-06-01

Deskripsi

Silicon nitride (Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>) possesses excellent mechanical properties and high thermal conductivity, which is an important feature in many applications. However, achieving the theoretically high thermal conductivity of Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> in practice is challenging. In this study, we adopted a first-principles calculation method to assess the effects of doping β-Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> and γ-Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> with carbon and oxygen atoms. Applying geometric structure optimization combined with calculation of the electronic phonon properties generated a stable doped structure. The results revealed that carbon and oxygen doping have little effect on the Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> unit cell size, but that oxygen doping increases the unit cell volume. Energy band structure and state density calculation results showed that carbon doping reduces the nitride band gap width, whereas oxygen doping results in an n-type Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> semiconductor. The findings from this study are significant in establishing a basis for targeted increase of the thermal conductivity of Si<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub>.