Abstract
Thermoreflectance techniques are powerful tools for measuring thermophysical properties of thin film systems, such as thermal conductivity, Λ, of individual layers, or thermal boundary conductance across thin film interfaces (G). Thermoreflectance pump–probe experiments monitor the thermoreflectance change on the surface of a sample, which is related to the thermal properties in the sample of interest. Thermoreflectance setups have been designed with both continuous wave (cw) and pulsed laser systems. In cw systems, the phase of the heating event is monitored, and its response to the heating modulation frequency is related to the thermophysical properties; this technique is commonly termed a phase sensitive thermoreflectance (PSTR) technique. In pulsed laser systems, pump and probe pulses are temporally delayed relative to each other, and the decay in the thermoreflectance signal in response to the heating event is related to the thermophysical properties; this technique is commonly termed a transient thermoreflectance (TTR) technique. In this work, mathematical models are presented to be used with PSTR and TTR techniques to determine the Λ and G of thin films on substrate structures. The sensitivities of the models to various thermal and sample parameters are discussed, and the advantages and disadvantages of each technique are elucidated from the results of the model analyses.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cahill D.G., Ford W.K., Goodson K.E., Mahan G.D., Majumdar A., Maris H.J., Merlin R., Phillpot S.R.: J. Appl. Phys. 93, 793 (2003)
Cahill D.G., Goodson K.E., Majumdar A.: J. Heat Transf. 124, 223 (2002)
Cahill D.G.: Microscale Thermophys. Eng. 1, 85 (1997)
Tai Y.C., Mastrangelo C.H., Muller R.S.: J. Appl. Phys. 63, 1442 (1988)
Tai Y.C., Mastrangelo C.H., Muller R.S.: J. Appl. Phys. 66, 3420 (1989)
Cahill D.G.: Rev. Sci. Instrum. 61, 802 (1990)
Cahill D.G.: Rev. Sci. Instrum. 73, 10 (2002)
Hopkins P.E., Phinney L.M.: J. Heat Transf. 131, 043201 (2009)
Shi L., Li D., Yu C., Jang W., Kim D., Yao Z., Kim P., Majumdar A.: J. Heat Transf. 125, 881 (2003)
Kim P., Shi L., Majumdar A., McEuen P.L.: Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 215502 (2001)
Koh Y.K., Singer S.L., Kim W., Zide J.M.O., Lu H., Cahill D.G, Majumdar A., Gossard A.C.: J. Appl. Phys. 105, 054303 (2009)
Tong T., Zhao Y., Delzeit L., Kashani A., Meyyappan M., Majumdar A.: IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Technol. 30, 92 (2007)
Ohsone Y., Wu G., Dryden J., Zok F., Majumdar A.: J. Heat Transf. 121, 954 (1999)
Li B., Pottier L., Roger J.P., Fournier D.: Thin Solid Films 352, 91 (1999)
Li B., Roger J.P., Pottier L., Fournier D.: J. Appl. Phys. 86, 5314 (1999)
Pottier L.: Appl. Phys. Lett. 64, 1618 (1994)
Chiritescu C., Cahill D.G., Nguyen N., Johnson D., Bodapati A., Keblinski P., Zschack P.: Science 315, 351 (2007)
Costescu R.M., Cahill D.G., Fabreguette F.H., Sechrist Z.A., George S.M.: Science 303, 989 (2004)
Hopkins P.E., Norris P.M., Stevens R.J., Beechem T., Graham S.: J. Heat Transf. 130, 062402 (2008)
Hopkins P.E., Salaway R.N., Stevens R.J., Norris P.M.: Int. J. Thermophys. 28, 947 (2007)
Hopkins P.E., Stevens R.J., Norris P.M.: J. Heat Transf. 130, 022401 (2008)
Stoner R.J., Maris H.J.: Phys. Rev. B 48, 16373 (1993)
Schmidt A.J., Chen X., Chen G.: Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 114902 (2008)
H.S. Carslaw, J.C. Jaeger, Conduction of Heat in Solids, 2nd edn. (Oxford University Press, New York, 1959), p. 109
Feldman A.: High Temp. High Press. 31, 293 (1999)
Cahill D.G.: Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75, 5119 (2004)
Incropera F., DeWitt D.P.: Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 4th edn. Wiley, New York (1996)
Costescu R.M., Wall M.A., Cahill D.G.: Phys. Rev. B 67, 054302 (2003)
Lee S.-M., Cahill D.G.: J. Appl. Phys. 81, 2590 (1997)
Stevens R.J., Smith A.N., Norris P.M.: J. Heat Transf. 127, 315 (2005)
Gray D.E.: American Institute of Physics Handbook, 3rd edn. McGraw Hill, New York (1972)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hopkins, P.E., Serrano, J.R. & Phinney, L.M. Comparison of Thermal Conductivity and Thermal Boundary Conductance Sensitivities in Continuous-Wave and Ultrashort-Pulsed Thermoreflectance Analyses. Int J Thermophys 31, 2380–2393 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-010-0808-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10765-010-0808-7