Indirect measurement of thermal conductivity in silicon nanowires
- Dipartimento di Ingegneria della Informazione, Università di Pisa, Via G.Caruso, I-56122 Pisa (Italy)
We report indirect measurements of thermal conductivity in silicon nanostructures. We have exploited a measurement technique based on the Joule self-heating of silicon nanowires. A standard model for the electron mobility has been used to determine the temperature through the accurate measurement of the nanowire resistance. We have applied this technique to devices fabricated with a top-down process that yields nanowires together with large silicon areas used both as electrical and as thermal contacts. As there is crystalline continuity between the nanowires and the large contact areas, our thermal conductivity measurements are not affected by any temperature drop due to the contact thermal resistance. Our results confirm the observed reduction of thermal conductivity in nanostructures and are comparable with those previously reported in the literature, achieved with more complex measurement techniques.
- OSTI ID:
- 22277975
- Journal Information:
- Journal of Applied Physics, Vol. 115, Issue 8; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0021-8979
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Modeling and theoretical efficiency of a silicon nanowire based thermoelectric junction with area enhancement
Thermoelectric characterization of suspended single silicon%3CU%2B2010%3Egermanium alloy nanowires.