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Scanning thermal probe calibration for accurate measurement of thermal conductivity of ultrathin films

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 April 2019

Adam A. Wilson*
Affiliation:
National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, 500 E. 5th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001, USA Sensors and Electron Devices Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory, 2800 Powder Mill Rd, Adelphi, MD 20783, USA
*
Address all correspondence to Adam A. Wilson at [email protected]
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Abstract

Scanning thermal microscopy allows thermal characterization with nanoscale resolution. However, quantitative usage has been met with skepticism, because no standard exists for calibrating probe–sample thermal exchange. In this paper, three published strategies for calibrating probe–sample thermal exchange are directly compared, then used to measure bulk and thin-film thermal conductivity. It is shown that with an appropriately calibrated probe and film-on-substrate heat conduction model, thermal conductivity values of ultrathin-film (2.9–202 nm) Al2O3 on silicon are within 20% deviation of independently measured values, while more commonly used methods yield values that may deviate by more a factor of two.

Type
Research Letters
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2019 

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