Simultaneous thickness and thermal conductivity measurements of thinned silicon from 100 nm to 17 μm

Abstract

Studies of size effects on thermal conductivity typically necessitate the fabrication of a comprehensive film thickness series. In this Letter, we demonstrate how material fabricated in a wedged geometry can enable similar, yet higher-throughput measurements to accelerate experimental analysis. Frequency domain thermoreflectance (FDTR) is used to simultaneously determine the thermal conductivity and thickness of a wedged silicon film for thicknesses between 100 nm and 17 μm by considering these features as fitting parameters in a thermal model. FDTR-deduced thicknesses are compared to values obtained from cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy, and corresponding thermal conductivity measurements are compared against several thickness-dependent analytical models based upon solutions to the Boltzmann transport equation. Our results demonstrate how the insight gained from a series of thin films can be obtained via fabrication of a single sample.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
May 17, 2021
Source ID
10.1063/5.0050888

Entities

People

  • Christopher B. Saltonstall
  • Christopher Perez
  • Darin Leonhardt
  • David P. Adams
  • Elbara Ziade
  • Ethan A. Scott
  • Kenneth E. Goodson
  • Mehdi Asheghi
  • Patrick E Hopkins
  • V. Carter Hodges

Organizations

  • Office of Naval Research
  • Sandia National Laboratories
  • Stanford University
  • University of Virginia

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Materials science
  • Physics

Readers

  • Fluid Dynamics.
  • Semiconductor Device Technology
  • Spectroscopy.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Microelectronics - Graphene