Practical Guide to the Design, Fabrication, and Calibration of NIST Nanocalorimeters

We report here on the design, fabrication, and calibration of nanocalorimeter sensors used in the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Nanocalorimetry Measurements Project. These small-scale thermal analysis instruments are produced using silicon microfabrication approaches. A single platinum line serves as both the heater and temperature sensor, and it is made from a 500 μm wide, 100 nm thick platinum trace, suspended on a 100 nm thick silicon nitride membrane for thermal isolation. Supplemental materials to this article (available online) include drawing files and LabVIEW code used in the fabrication and calibration process.