Characterization of heat transfer along a silicon nanowire using thermoreflectance technique

We studied heat transfer along a silicon nanowire suspended between two thin-film heaters using a thermoreflectance imaging technique. The thermoreflectance imaging system achieved submicrometer spatial resolution and 0.1°C temperature resolution using visible light. The temperature difference across the nanowire was measured, and then its thermal resistance was calculated. Knowing the dimension of the nanowire (115 nm in width and 3.9 μm in length), we calculated the thermal conductivity of the sample, which is 46 W/mK. Thermal conductivity decreases with decreasing wire size. For a 115-nm-wide silicon nanowire, the thermal conductivity is only one-third of the bulk value. In addition, the transient response of the thin-film heaters was also examined using three-dimensional thermal models by the ANSYS program. The simulated thermal map matches well with the experimental thermoreflectance results.