title: Anisotropic thermal conductivity in uranium dioxide.
abstract: The thermal conductivity of uranium dioxide has been studied for over half a century, as uranium dioxide is the fuel used in a majority of operating nuclear reactors and thermal conductivity controls the conversion of heat produced by fission events to electricity. Because uranium dioxide is a cubic compound and thermal conductivity is a second-rank tensor, it has always been assumed to be isotropic. We report thermal conductivity measurements on oriented uranium dioxide single crystals that show anisotropy from 4 K to above 300 K. Our results indicate that phonon-spin scattering is important for understanding the general thermal conductivity behaviour, and also explains the anisotropy by coupling to the applied temperature gradient and breaking cubic symmetry.
authors: 1] Materials Technology-Metallurgy, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA [2].
authors: K
authors: K
authors: Gofryk
authors: 1] Physics and Chemistry of Materials, Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA [2].
authors: S
authors: S
authors: Du
authors: Materials Science in Radiation &Dynamical Extremes, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: C R
authors: CR
authors: Stanek
authors: Materials Technology-Metallurgy, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: J C
authors: JC
authors: Lashley
authors: Materials Science in Radiation &Dynamical Extremes, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: X-Y
authors: XY
authors: Liu
authors: Materials Technology-Metallurgy, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: R K
authors: RK
authors: Schulze
authors: Materials Technology-Metallurgy, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: J L
authors: JL
authors: Smith
authors: Materials Technology-Metallurgy, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: D J
authors: DJ
authors: Safarik
authors: Materials Science in Radiation &Dynamical Extremes, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: D D
authors: DD
authors: Byler
authors: Materials Science in Radiation &Dynamical Extremes, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: K J
authors: KJ
authors: McClellan
authors: Materials Science in Radiation &Dynamical Extremes, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: B P
authors: BP
authors: Uberuaga
authors: Materials Physics and Applications Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: B L
authors: BL
authors: Scott
authors: Materials Science in Radiation &Dynamical Extremes, Materials Science and Technology Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545, USA.
authors: D A
authors: DA
authors: Andersson