Quantification of probe–sample interactions of a scanning thermal microscope using a nanofabricated calibration sample having programmable size

作者：Yunfei Ge, Yuan Zhang, Jamie A. Booth, Jonathan Weaver, Phillip S. Dobson · 发表于：Nanotechnology · 年份：2016 · DOI：10.1088/0957-4484/27/32/325503 · 被引用次数：25 · 研究领域：Thermal properties of materials、Advanced Thermoelectric Materials and Devices、Thermal Radiation and Cooling Technologies

We report a method for quantifying scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) probe-sample thermal interactions in air using a novel temperature calibration device. This new device has been designed, fabricated and characterised using SThM to provide an accurate and spatially variable temperature distribution that can be used as a temperature reference due to its unique design. The device was characterised by means of a microfabricated SThM probe operating in passive mode. This data was interpreted using a heat transfer model, built to describe the thermal interactions during a SThM thermal scan. This permitted the thermal contact resistance between the SThM tip and the device to be determined as 8.33 × 10(5) K W(-1). It also permitted the probe-sample contact radius to be clarified as being the same size as the probe's tip radius of curvature. Finally, the data were used in the construction of a lumped-system steady state model for the SThM probe and its potential applications were addressed.