Thermal Conductivity of Tetragonal Cadmium Diphosphide Crystals

Abstract

Tetragonal cadmium diphosphide (β-CdP₂) single crystals with high structural perfection have been grown and their thermal conductivity has been measured. The results indicate that the higher thermal conductivity across the c axis corresponds to the smaller unit-cell parameter of the crystals (a = 5.08 ± 0.01 Å and c = 18.59 ± 0.05 Å). The observed thermal conductivity anisotropy is tentatively attributed to the fact that structural basis of β-CdP₂ is made up of spectral phosphorus chains running in the [100] and [010] directions.