Effects of etching and oxidation on the thermal conductivity of germanium

Abstract

The thermal conductivity of highly polished germanium samples has been measured over the temperature range 1-4 K. Removal of damaged layers by chemical etching before the final polishing has no significant effect on the conductivity. Thus, scattering by dislocation layers, which is thought to play a significant role in the alkali halides, is not significant in germanium. Thermal oxidation produces a more or less reversible lowering of the conductivity. This is consistent with the possibility that part of the heat is transported by Rayleigh waves at the polished surfaces.