Thermal and spatial resolution in scanning thermal microscopy images: A study on the probe’s heating parameters

Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) employs a thermocouple as the scanning sensor to capture thermal images with sub-micron spatial resolution. After nearly two decades of research and development in this area, many outstanding issues/questions related to the accuracy and resolution of SThM technique has remained either unanswered or at best ambiguously defined. The present work uses numerical simulation for heat conduction in a combined SThM probe and device to obtain temperature distributions in various heated nanostructures. The limits of accuracy and spatial resolution of the SThM technique for heated metal bridges are estimated using a probe with 100 nm thermocouple junction as the temperature sensor. It is concluded mat large errors in temperature measurements should be expected for small devices that are fabricated on poor thermal conductivity substrates. There is no clear and unique definition for the spatial resolution of the SThM technique as it may change for different device configuration and substrates. It appears that the finite dimensions of the probe and contact area impose a limit on the spatial resolution of the SThM, which is strongly influenced by temperature gradients across the device under test.

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Scanning Thermal Microscopy of Ultrathin Films: Numerical Studies Regarding Cantilever Displacement, Thermal Contact Areas, Heat Fluxes, and Heat Distribution

Nanomaterials ◽

10.3390/nano11020491 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 491

Author(s):

Christoph Metzke ◽

Fabian Kühnel ◽

Jonas Weber ◽

Günther Benstetter

Keyword(s):

Thermal Properties ◽

Ultrathin Films ◽

Hexagonal Boron Nitride ◽

Thermal Contact ◽

Heat Transfer Process ◽

Heat Propagation ◽

Heat Fluxes ◽

Detailed Knowledge ◽

Scanning Thermal Microscopy ◽

Thermal Microscopy

New micro- and nanoscale devices require electrically isolating materials with specific thermal properties. One option to characterize these thermal properties is the atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) technique. It enables qualitative mapping of local thermal conductivities of ultrathin films. To fully understand and correctly interpret the results of practical SThM measurements, it is essential to have detailed knowledge about the heat transfer process between the probe and the sample. However, little can be found in the literature so far. Therefore, this work focuses on theoretical SThM studies of ultrathin films with anisotropic thermal properties such as hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and compares the results with a bulk silicon (Si) sample. Energy fluxes from the probe to the sample between 0.6 µW and 126.8 µW are found for different cases with a tip radius of approximately 300 nm. A present thermal interface resistance (TIR) between bulk Si and ultrathin h-BN on top can fully suppress a further heat penetration. The time until heat propagation within the sample is stationary is found to be below 1 µs, which may justify higher tip velocities in practical SThM investigations of up to 20 µms−1. It is also demonstrated that there is almost no influence of convection and radiation, whereas a possible TIR between probe and sample must be considered.

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Adhesive penetration of wood cell walls investigated by scanning thermal microscopy (SThM)

Holzforschung ◽

10.1515/hf.2008.014 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 62 (1) ◽

pp. 91-98 ◽

Cited By ~ 57

Author(s):

Johannes Konnerth ◽

David Harper ◽

Seung-Hwan Lee ◽

Timothy G. Rials ◽

Wolfgang Gindl

Keyword(s):

Thermal Conductivity ◽

Thermal Properties ◽

Surface Temperature ◽

Cell Walls ◽

Adhesive Contact ◽

Wood Adhesive ◽

Bond Line ◽

Scanning Thermal Microscopy ◽

Thermal Probe ◽

Thermal Microscopy

Abstract Cross sections of wood adhesive bonds were studied by scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) with the aim of scrutinizing the distribution of adhesive in the bond line region. The distribution of thermal conductivity, as well as temperature in the bond line area, was measured on the surface by means of a nanofabricated thermal probe offering high spatial and thermal resolution. Both the thermal conductivity and the surface temperature measurements were found suitable to differentiate between materials in the bond region, i.e., adhesive, cell walls and embedding epoxy. Of the two SThM modes available, the surface temperature mode provided images with superior optical contrast. The results clearly demonstrate that the polyurethane adhesive did not cause changes of thermal properties in wood cell walls with adhesive contact. By contrast, cell walls adjacent to a phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde adhesive showed distinctly changed thermal properties, which is attributed to the presence of adhesive in the wood cell wall.

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Direct observation of electromagnetic near field in silicon nanophotonics devices using Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) technique

CLEO: 2014 ◽

10.1364/cleo_si.2014.sm2h.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Meir Grajower ◽

Liron Stern ◽

Boris Desiatov ◽

Ilya Goykhman ◽

Uriel Levy

Keyword(s):

Direct Observation ◽

Near Field ◽

Scanning Thermal Microscopy ◽

Thermal Microscopy ◽

Silicon Nanophotonics

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The Observation of Martensite and Magnetic Domain Structures in Ni 53 Mn 24 Ga 23 Shape Memory Alloys by Scanning Electron Acoustic Microscopy and Scanning Thermal Microscopy

Chinese Physics Letters ◽

10.1088/0256-307x/29/5/050702 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 050702

Author(s):

Kun-Yu Zhao ◽

Hua-Rong Zeng ◽

Hong-Zhang Song ◽

Sen-Xing Hui ◽

Guo-Rong Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Shape Memory Alloys ◽

Shape Memory ◽

Magnetic Domain ◽

Acoustic Microscopy ◽

Scanning Thermal Microscopy ◽

Thermal Microscopy ◽

Domain Structures ◽

Electron Acoustic ◽

Scanning Electron

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Quantitative scanning thermal microscopy of ErAs/GaAs superlattice structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy

Applied Physics Letters ◽

10.1063/1.4792757 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 102 (6) ◽

pp. 061912 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

K. W. Park ◽

H. P. Nair ◽

A. M. Crook ◽

S. R. Bank ◽

E. T. Yu

Keyword(s):

Molecular Beam Epitaxy ◽

Molecular Beam ◽

Scanning Thermal Microscopy ◽

Thermal Microscopy ◽

Superlattice Structures

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Scanning Thermal Microscopy of Carbon Nanotubes

10.1115/imece2000-1453 ◽

2000 ◽

Author(s):

Li Shi ◽

Sergei Plyasunov ◽

Adrian Bachtold ◽

Paul L. McEuen ◽

Arunava Majumdar

Keyword(s):

Carbon Nanotubes ◽

Thermal Imaging ◽

Heat Dissipation ◽

Energy Transport ◽

Imaging Technique ◽

Mechanical Deformation ◽

Phonon Transport ◽

Scanning Thermal Microscopy ◽

Thermal Microscopy ◽

Nanoelectronic Circuits

Abstract This paper reports the use of scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) for studying heat dissipation and phonon transport in nanoelectronic circuits consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNs). Thermally designed and batch fabricated SThM probes were used to resolve the phonon temperature distribution in the CN circuits with a spatial resolution of 50 nm. Heat dissipation at poor metal-CN contacts could be readily found by the thermal imaging technique. Important questions regarding energy transport in nanoelectronic circuits, such as where is heat dissipated, whether the electrons and phonons are in equilibrium, how phonons are transported, and what are the effects of mechanical deformation on the transport and dissipation properties, are addressed in this work.

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