Thermal conductivity / thermal diffusivity measurements: 10 nm – 20 µm
Information about thermophysical properties of materials and heat transfer optimization of final products is becoming more and more vital for industrial applications. Over the past few decades, non-distructive
optical methods have developed into the most commonly used technique for the measurement of the thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of various kinds of solids, powders and liquids.
Thermophysical properties of thin-films are becoming more and more important in industries such as, phase-change optical disk media, thermo-electric materials, light emitting diodes (LEDs), phase change memories, flat panel displays, and the semiconductor industry.
All these industries deposit a film on a substrate in order to give a device a particular function. Since the physical properties of these films differ from those of bulk materials, these data are required for accurate thermal management predictions.
Thermal properties:
- Thermal Conductivity
- Volumetric Heat Capacity
- Thermal Diffusivity
- Thermal Efficiency
- Thermal Boundary Conductance
Thin films:
Thin films are materials with thicknesses from nanometers to micrometers, applied to surfaces.
Their thermophysical properties differ significantly from those of bulk materials depending on thickness and temperature. Thin films are typically used in semiconductors, LEDs, fuel cells, and optical storage media.
Different types of thin films
- Thin film: layer of a few nm to µm
- Films are grown on specific substrate
- Typical growing techniques include
- PVD (e.g. sputtering, thermal vaporization)
- CVD (PECVD, LPCVD, ALD)
- Drop casting, Spin coating & Printing
- Various kinds of films, including:
- Semiconducting films (e.g. thermoelectric, sensors, transistors)
- Metallic films (used as contacts)
- Thermal barrier coatings
- Optical coatings