Thermal conductivity of single-walled carbon nanotubes

Abstract

We have measured the temperature-dependent thermal conductivity $\ensuremath{\kappa}(T)$ of crystalline ropes of single-walled carbon nanotubes from 350 K to 8 K. $\ensuremath{\kappa}(T)$ decreases smoothly with decreasing temperature, and displays linear temperature dependence below 30 K. Comparison with electrical conductivity experiments indicates that the room-temperature thermal conductivity of a single nanotube may be comparable to that of diamond or in-plane graphite, while the ratio of thermal to electrical conductance for a given sample indicates that the thermal conductivity is dominated by phonons at all temperatures. Below 30 K, the linear temperature dependence and estimated magnitude of $\ensuremath{\kappa}(T)$ imply an energy-independent phonon mean free path of \ensuremath{\sim}0.5--1.5 \ensuremath{\mu}m.