Enhancement of Thermal Conductivity Across the Metal-Insulator Transition in Vanadium Dioxide*

The metal-to-insulator transition (MIT) in vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is investigated by electrical and thermal transport measurements. We report an order-of-magnitude enhancement of thermal conductivity across the MIT region in the VO₂ single crystal. Magnetic field dependent measurements reveal that the thermal conductivity peak doesn't show an obvious dependence on the magnetic field, which indicates that the enhancement of thermal conductivity could come from neutral heat carriers such as phonons. Our experiment explores a potential direction for achieving thermal management in phase-change materials.