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Thermal Conduction across Metal-Dielectric Sidewall Interfaces.
Woosung Park, Takashi Kodama1, Joonsuk Park
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|August 9, 2017
Summary
Heat flow in nanostructures is complex. This study quantifies sidewall interface thermal resistance, finding it significantly higher than planar interfaces due to disorder and incomplete contact, crucial for device engineering.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Thermal Engineering
Background:
- Heat flow in nanostructures is often three-dimensional due to nonplanar interfaces.
- Sidewall interfaces, common in complementary metal-oxide semiconductor transistors, exhibit higher microstructural disorder, impeding energy transport and increasing thermal resistance.
- Existing characterization techniques are insufficient for evaluating sidewall interface thermal properties.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a novel electrothermal method for characterizing sidewall interface thermal resistance.
- To quantify the thermal resistance of aluminum-silicon dioxide sidewall interfaces.
- To investigate the impact of microstructural disorder and incomplete contact on sidewall thermal resistance.
Main Methods:
- Development of a novel electrothermal measurement technique.
- Fabrication of intricate microstructures, specifically suspended nanograting structures.
- Utilizing transmission electron microscopy for interface analysis.
Main Results:
- The measured thermal resistance of the aluminum-silicon dioxide sidewall interface is approximately 16 ± 5 m² K/GW, twice that of planar interfaces.
- Transmission electron microscopy revealed significant roughness and disorder at sidewall interfaces.
- A large discrepancy between experimental results and a roughness-based model suggests incomplete contact at sidewall interfaces.
Conclusions:
- Sidewall interfaces possess significantly higher thermal resistance compared to planar interfaces in nanostructures.
- Incomplete contact, likely due to underetching, is a major contributor to the elevated thermal resistance of sidewall interfaces.
- Sidewall interfaces require separate consideration in thermal analysis for accurate nanostructured device engineering.
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