Heat transport in real spin-chain materials

The problem of heat transport in low-dimensional antiferromagnets that consist of 1D spin-chains coupled to three-dimensional phonons and impurities is discussed. Using an example of SrCuO2 doped with Ca we show that the thermal conductivity in this class of materials should exhibit a ubiquitous behavior-saturation at higher temperatures. The reasons for such a behavior are outlined and a close agreement with the existing experimental data is demonstrated. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved