Theory of the thermal conductivity of RE Al 2 compounds

• Published in: Journal of magnetism and magnetic materials Vol. 147; no. 3; pp. 341 - 345
• Main Authors: Rassili, A., Ausloos, M.
• Format: Journal Article Web Resource
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 1995; Elsevier Science
• Subjects: Engineering, computing & technology; Ingénierie, informatique & technologie; Materials science & engineering; Physical, chemical, mathematical & earth Sciences; Physics; Physique; Physique, chimie, mathématiques & sciences de la terre; Science des matériaux & ingénierie
• ISSN: 0304-8853; 1873-4766
• DOI: 10.1016/0304-8853(95)00087-9

On the basis of the variational method for transport coefficients we have calculated the thermal conductivity of RE Al 2-like systems as a function of temperature. The low-temperature limit obeys Matthiessen's rule 1/ κ = 1/ κ ph + 1/ κ s + 1/ κ imp where the three components are the contributions arising from e −-phonon, e −-localized spin and e −-impurity interactions, respectively. The temperature dependence of each term has been calculated, as well as the superposition of all three. The influence of the physical parameters (spin value, Debye temperature, cut-off wave vector, Fermi energy, etc.) is shown. The theory is in good agreement with reported data for GdAl 2.