Electronic transport properties of silicon nanowire cage

It is found that the nano-cross-junction effect can lead to extremely low thermal conductivity in Silicon-nanowire-cage (SiNWC). The topological structure of SiNWC may also lead to one-dimensional electronic transport in SiNWC, which can realize high ZT combined with nano-cross-juntion effect. We studied the electronic transport properties of n-type SiNWC at room temperature. The electronic structure reflects quantum confinement in SiNWC while the conductivity and electronic thermal conductivity are restricted by the cross-sectional area, reaching even lower value compared to those of 1.1nm Si nanowire. Consequently, electronic transport in SiNWC should be typically one-dimensional.