The dependence of lattice thermal conductivity on phonon modes in pyrochlore-related Ln2Sn2O7 (Ln = La,Gd)

Rare-earth pyrochlore materials are promising thermal barrier coatings materials and fundamental understanding of their thermal transport is crucial for further improving its performance. In this work, using density functional theory (DFT) method, we calculated the intrinsic lattice thermal conductivities of Ln₂Sn₂O₇ (Ln = La, Gd) and conducted a comprehensive analysis on the mode thermal conductivity, relaxation time, Grüneisen parameters, group velocity, and specific heat, respectively. It is shown that in pyrochlore-type materials the number of the optical phonons is much larger than that of the acoustic phonon, and the thermal conductivity of acoustic phonons are suppressed, both of which increase the contribution ratio of optical phonons. Especially, through cumulative analysis, we found that the contribution of optical phonons is significant: the ratio of optical contribution is more than 50% and 64% in La₂Sn₂O₇ and Gd₂Sn₂O₇. This work provides a comprehensive picture illustrating the significant role of the optical phonons in the lattice thermal conduction in rare-earth pyrochlore materials, and points out an avenue to obtain low thermal conductivity in complex structural thermal insulation materials.