{"paper":{"title":"Semiconductor nanofilms as thermal phonon polarizers: competing effects of scattering selection rules and boundary mode conversion","license":"http://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/","headline":"","cross_cats":["cond-mat.mes-hall"],"primary_cat":"cond-mat.mtrl-sci","authors_text":"Navaneetha K. Ravichandran, Vasumathy Ravishankar","submitted_at":"2026-07-06T16:40:14Z","abstract_excerpt":"Phonon scattering selection rules are known to control heat flow through bulk solids. Here we show that these selection rules also modulate heat flow through nanoscale semiconductor films, although through a previously-unexplored mechanism. Using first-principles calculations, we expose a competition between these selection rules and phonon mode conversion at boundaries of nanoscale films, that drives mode-polarized heat currents at cryogenic temperatures ($\\le$ 100 K). This polarizing effect is stronger in materials like indium phosphide, where selection rules based on large velocity differen"},"claims":{"count":0,"items":[],"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"source":{"id":"2607.05296","kind":"arxiv","version":1},"verdict":{"id":null,"model_set":{},"created_at":null,"strongest_claim":"","one_line_summary":"","pipeline_version":null,"weakest_assumption":"","pith_extraction_headline":""},"integrity":{"clean":true,"summary":{"advisory":0,"critical":0,"by_detector":{},"informational":0},"endpoint":"/pith/2607.05296/integrity.json","findings":[],"available":true,"detectors_run":[],"snapshot_sha256":"c28c3603d3b5d939e8dc4c7e95fa8dfce3d595e45f758748cecf8e644a296938"},"references":{"count":0,"sample":[],"resolved_work":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57","internal_anchors":0},"formal_canon":{"evidence_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"author_claims":{"count":0,"strong_count":0,"snapshot_sha256":"258153158e38e3291e3d48162225fcdb2d5a3ed65a07baac614ab91432fd4f57"},"builder_version":"pith-number-builder-2026-05-17-v1"}