Novel technique to measure thermal conductivity of thin film membranes

In this paper we present a novel technique to measure the thermal conductivity of thin film membranes. A very simple structure consisting of a polysilicon resistor as a heater and a polysilicon-aluminum thermocouple as a temperature sensor, both placed on a SiN membrane, is needed. Next to characterize the thermal conductivity of the SiN thin film, we have also been able to measure the thermal conductivity of SiO and polysilicon thin layers deposited onto the SiN membrane. The results obtained are in good agreement with previously published data obtained with different techniques.

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