Heat transport by phonons and the generation of heat by fast phonon processes in ferroelastic materials

Thermal conductivity of ferroelastic device materials can be reversibly controlled by strain. The nucleation and growth of twin boundaries reduces thermal conductivity if the heat flow is perpendicular to the twin wall. The twin walls act as phonon barriers whereby the thermal conductivity decreases linearly with the number of such phonon barriers. Ferroelastic materials also show elasto-caloric properties with a high frequency dynamics. The upper frequency limit is determined by heat generation on a time scale, which is some 5 orders of magnitude below the typical bulk phonon times. Some of these nano-structural processes are irreversible under stress release (but remain reversible under temperature cycling), in particular the annihilation of needle domains that are a key indicator for ferroelastic behaviour in multiferroic materials.