UBC Theses and Dissertations

UBC Theses Logo

UBC Theses and Dissertations

Thermal conductivity of inert gas solids Hurst , Michael James

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of perfect infinite crystals of neon, argon, krypton, and xenon has been calculated numerically. It was assumed that the crystals possessed face centred cubic structure with the atoms interacting in pairs through a Lennard-Jones 12:6 potential energy function. The calculations considered only the effects of three-phonon interactions. It was possible to simplify the calculations by introducing "reduced" physical quantities. The thermal conductivity of each of the inert gas solids considered was obtained from the "reduced thermal conductivity" which was calculated for argon. Agreement with experimental data for neon, argon, and krypton was obtained for temperatures higher than those for which the effects of crystal size and lattice defects determine the thermal conductivity. This agreement suggests that for sufficiently high temperatures the thermal conductivity is determined by the effects of three-phonon Umklapp processes.

Item Media

Item Citations and Data

Rights

For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.