  The phonon dynamics of filled skutterudite CeRu4Sb12 have been studied at
room temperature by inelastic neutron scattering. Optical phonons associated
with a large vibration of Ce atoms are observed at a relatively low energy of E
= 6 meV, and show anticrossing behavior with acoustic phonons. We propose that
the origin of the low lattice thermal conductivity in filled skutterudites can
be attributed to intensive Umklapp scattering originating from low-lying
optical phonons. By an analysis based on a Born-von Karman force model, the
longitudinal force constants of the nearest Ce-Sb and Ce-Ru pairs are estimated
to be 0.025 mdyn/A, while that of the nearest Ru-Sb pair is estimated to be 1.4
mdyn/A, indicating that the Ce atoms are bound very weakly to the surrounding
rigid RuSb6-octahedron cages.
