Lattice thermal conductivity of filled skutterudites: An anharmonicity perspective

We report a phenomenological model to calculate the high-temperature lattice thermal conductivity of filled skutterudite antimonides. The model needs no phonon resonant scattering terms. Instead, we assume that umklapp processes dominate the high-temperature phonon scattering. In order to represent the anharmonicity introduced by the filling atom, we introduce a Gaussian term into the relaxation time of the umklapp process. The developed model agrees remarkably well with the experimental results of RE_fCo₄Sb₁₂ and RE_fFe₄Sb₁₂ (RE=Yb, Ba, and Ca) alloys. To further test the validity of our model, we calculate the lattice thermal conductivity of nanostructured or multi-filled skutterudites. The calculation results are also in good agreement with experiment, increasing our confidence in the developed anharmonicity model.