Analysis of thermal diffusivity of Ti thin film by thermoreflectance and periodic heating technique

Thermal diffusivity of Ti thin film with several hundred nanometers thickness has been measured by means of thermoreflectance (TR) technique and periodic heating using front heating and front detection configuration. Ti thin films were prepared on Si substrates by dc sputtering method. Then thin Mo layers as reflection layers were coated on Ti thin films. Surface of the Mo layer is irradiated by sinusoidally intensity modulated heating laser. Temperature response at the heated area is measured by a probe laser beam with constant intensity, as a TR signal. Phase lag between the phase of TR signal and that of heating laser beam was obtained from 100 kHz to 2.6 MHz. To analyze thermal diffusivity of Ti thin films using the phase lag data, we developed a three-layer analytical model such as Mo coating (100 nm)∕thin film∕semi-infinite substrate. The calculated phase lag using analytical model is in good agreement with the experimental data for the whole frequency range. The thermal diffusivity of two Ti thin films is determined to be 5 × 10(-6) m(2)∕s, which is 53% of the bulk one.