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Abstract:
Nanotubes have recently been experimentally demonstrated to be
perfect phonon waveguides. To explore the underlying physics, we present
atomic scale calculations of thermal transport in carbon nanotubes under radial
strain using the nonequilibrium Green’s function method. It is found that the
thermal conductance exhibits a robust linear response behavior to radial strain
over the whole elastic range. A detailed analysis of phonon transmission reveals
that an elastic radial strain can be viewed as a perturbation of the transport of
most of the low-frequency phonons. This is attributed to the unique bonding
configuration of nanotubes, which can be well preserved even under severe
deformation. Such a structural response to deformation, which is rare in other
systems, explains the robust thermal transport in nanotubes against severe radial
deformation.
