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Main Authors: Li, Jielan, Chen, Zekun, Wang, Qian, Yang, Han, Lu, Ziheng, Li, Guanzhi, Chen, Shuizhou, Zhu, Yu, Liu, Xixian, Tan, Junfu, Tang, Mingfa, Zhou, Yichi, Zeni, Claudio, Fowler, Andrew, Zügner, Daniel, Pinsler, Robert, Horton, Matthew, Xie, Tian, Liu, Tie-Yan, Liu, Haiguang, Qin, Tao, Lv, Bing, Donadio, Davide, Hao, Hongxia
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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Online Access:https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11568
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author Li, Jielan
Chen, Zekun
Wang, Qian
Yang, Han
Lu, Ziheng
Li, Guanzhi
Chen, Shuizhou
Zhu, Yu
Liu, Xixian
Tan, Junfu
Tang, Mingfa
Zhou, Yichi
Zeni, Claudio
Fowler, Andrew
Zügner, Daniel
Pinsler, Robert
Horton, Matthew
Xie, Tian
Liu, Tie-Yan
Liu, Haiguang
Qin, Tao
Lv, Bing
Donadio, Davide
Hao, Hongxia
author_facet Li, Jielan
Chen, Zekun
Wang, Qian
Yang, Han
Lu, Ziheng
Li, Guanzhi
Chen, Shuizhou
Zhu, Yu
Liu, Xixian
Tan, Junfu
Tang, Mingfa
Zhou, Yichi
Zeni, Claudio
Fowler, Andrew
Zügner, Daniel
Pinsler, Robert
Horton, Matthew
Xie, Tian
Liu, Tie-Yan
Liu, Haiguang
Qin, Tao
Lv, Bing
Donadio, Davide
Hao, Hongxia
contents Heat transfer is a fundamental property of matter. Research spanning decades has attempted to discover materials with exceptional thermal conductivity, yet the upper limit remains unknown. Using deep learning accelerated crystal structure prediction and first-principles calculation, we systematically explore the thermal conductivity landscape of inorganic crystals. We brute-force over half a million ordered crystalline structures, encompassing an extensive coverage of local energy minima in binary compounds with up to four atoms per primitive cell. We confirm diamond sets the upper bound of thermal conductivity within our search space, very likely also among all stable crystalline solids at ambient conditions. We also identify over 20 novel crystals surpassing silicon in thermal conductivity, validated by density functional theory. These include a semiconductor TaN with ultrahigh thermal conductivity (~900 $\mathrm{W\cdot m^{-1}\cdot K^{-1}}$), and metallic compounds such as MnV that exhibit high lattice and electronic thermal conductivity simultaneously, a distinctive feature not observed before. These results as well as the deep learning-driven screening method, redefine the landscape of thermal transport and establish a large open-access database for future materials discovery.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_11568
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Probing the Limit of Heat Transfer in Inorganic Crystals with Deep Learning
Li, Jielan
Chen, Zekun
Wang, Qian
Yang, Han
Lu, Ziheng
Li, Guanzhi
Chen, Shuizhou
Zhu, Yu
Liu, Xixian
Tan, Junfu
Tang, Mingfa
Zhou, Yichi
Zeni, Claudio
Fowler, Andrew
Zügner, Daniel
Pinsler, Robert
Horton, Matthew
Xie, Tian
Liu, Tie-Yan
Liu, Haiguang
Qin, Tao
Lv, Bing
Donadio, Davide
Hao, Hongxia
Materials Science
Heat transfer is a fundamental property of matter. Research spanning decades has attempted to discover materials with exceptional thermal conductivity, yet the upper limit remains unknown. Using deep learning accelerated crystal structure prediction and first-principles calculation, we systematically explore the thermal conductivity landscape of inorganic crystals. We brute-force over half a million ordered crystalline structures, encompassing an extensive coverage of local energy minima in binary compounds with up to four atoms per primitive cell. We confirm diamond sets the upper bound of thermal conductivity within our search space, very likely also among all stable crystalline solids at ambient conditions. We also identify over 20 novel crystals surpassing silicon in thermal conductivity, validated by density functional theory. These include a semiconductor TaN with ultrahigh thermal conductivity (~900 $\mathrm{W\cdot m^{-1}\cdot K^{-1}}$), and metallic compounds such as MnV that exhibit high lattice and electronic thermal conductivity simultaneously, a distinctive feature not observed before. These results as well as the deep learning-driven screening method, redefine the landscape of thermal transport and establish a large open-access database for future materials discovery.
title Probing the Limit of Heat Transfer in Inorganic Crystals with Deep Learning
topic Materials Science
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.11568