First-principles thermal transport in amorphous Ge₂Sb₂Te₅ at the nanoscale

Abstract

propagative modes persist well beyond extended range order distances typical of disordered network-forming materials. Values obtained are in quantitative agreement with the experimental data, by revealing a strong size dependence of the thermal conductivity down to the 1.7-10 nm range, fully covering the scale of current PCMs-based devices. In particular, a reduction of thermal conductivity as large as 75% occurs for dimensions lying below 2 nm. These results provide a quantitative description of the thermal properties of amorphous GST at the nanoscale and are expected to underpin the development of PCM-based device applications.

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