Characterizing Thermal Transport to Inform Process Design

Abstract

Ultimately, as electronic devices shrink, thermal properties become increasingly important to prevent failure. The thermal properties of materials are inextricably linked to the structure and quality of the material, which are governed by the synthesis and processing conditions. In particular thermal conductivity is significantly reduced by grain boundaries and defects, and can be modified by the introduction of impurities and dopants. This talk will focus on evaluation of thermal properties as a metric to inform processing conditions. In particular, measurements of thermal conductivity can provide insight into the quality of the materials synthesized with plasma technologies. In particular, thermoreflectance methods enable optical non-contact measurement of cross-plane thermal conductivity and interface resistances between successive layers of materials, while most measurements of in-plane thermal transport require microfabrication. Non-destructive thermal characterization could provide a new avenue for quality control during depositions.