Advanced Functional Materials
Thermal Conductivity of HfTe₅: A Critical Revisit
Advanced Functional Materials · 30, 1907286 (2020)
Read original paper
Introduction
Time-domain thermoreflectance resolves HfTe₅ thermal conductivity along all three crystal axes in a ratio of about 28:1:8. Through-plane conductivity is only about 0.41 W/(m·K), and first-principles calculations broadly agree with the measurements.
A closer reading
The comparison with ZrTe₅ separates directional ratios from absolute conductivities. Replacing Zr with heavier Hf does not simply reduce every conductivity, illustrating why atomic mass alone is insufficient to rank heat transport in these crystals.