October 24, 2007
Journal Article

Phonon Anharmonicities in Graphite and Graphene.

Abstract

The research described in this product was performed in part in the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a national scientific user facility sponsored by the Department of Energy's Office of Biological and Environmental Research and located at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. We determine from first principles the finite-temperature properties—linewidths, line shifts, and lifetimes—of the key vibrational modes that dominate inelastic losses in graphitic materials. In graphite, the phonon linewidth of the Raman-active E2g mode is found to decrease with temperature; such anomalous behavior is driven entirely by electron-phonon interactions, and does not appear in the nearly degenerate infrared-active E1u mode. In graphene, the phonon anharmonic lifetimes and decay channels of the A01 mode at K dominate over E2g at T and couple strongly with acoustic phonons, highlighting how ballistic transport in carbon-based interconnects requires careful engineering of phonon decays and thermalization.

Revised: April 7, 2011 | Published: October 24, 2007

Citation

Bonini N., M. Lazzeri, N.n. Marzari, and F. Mauri. 2007. Phonon Anharmonicities in Graphite and Graphene. Physical Review Letters 99, no. 176802:1-4. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.99.176802