Invited Paper SE-TuA1
Nanometer-Scale and Interfacial Thermal Transport and Thermal Properties Characterization

Tuesday, October 19, 2010, 2:00 pm, Room Cimmaron

This talk discusses recent work on measurements of nanometer-scale and interfacial heat transfer as well as measurements of nanometer-scale thermophysical properties of solid materials. The research combines atomic force microscope (AFM)- based measurements, nanometer-scale thermal processing, and nanometer-scale infrared spectroscopy.

In the first research thrust, an AFM cantilever probe can be used to measure thermomechanical expansions with spatial resolution smaller than 10 nm and out-of-plane displacements as small as 3 pm. Such displacements correspond to about 10 mK temperature changes. We use this technique to measure temperature distributions in graphene and carbon nanotube devices. It is possible to make a quantitative measurement of temperature rise in carbon nanoelectronic devices that are one atom thick.

In the second research thrust, we use AFM cantilever probes with integrated heaters. When the AFM tip is in contact with a solid substrate, the tip-substrate contact is an ultrasmall hotspot with a diameter as small as 1 nm. This tip can be used to measure nanometer-scale temperature-dependent mechanical, chemical, and electronic properties of surfaces.