In this paper, we describe an easy-to-use method to measure the thermal conductivity of thin films based on an electrical heating/sensing mechanism and a steady-state technique. The method used relative commonly used instruments, and without any signal processing circuit, is easy to be used in such thin-film thermal conductivity measurement. The SiO2 thin-film samples, prepared by thermal oxidation, plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD), and E-beam evaporator, were deposited on a silicon substrate. The apparent thermal conductivity, the intrinsic thermal conductivity of SiO2 films, and the total interface thermal resistance of the heater/SiO2/silicon system were evaluated. Our data showed agreement with those data obtained from previous literatures and from the 3 omega method. Furthermore, by using a sandwiched structure, the interface thermal resistance of Cr/PECVD SiO2 and PECVD SiO2/silicon were also separately evaluated in this work. The data showed that the interface thermal resistance of Cr/PECVD SiO2 (metal/dielectric) is about one order of magnitude larger than that of PECVD SiO2/silicon (dielectric/dielectric).

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Atomic diffusion bonding of wafers with thin nanocrystalline metal films J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B 28, 706 (2010); 10.1116/1.3437515 Thermal conductivity measurement and interface thermal resistance estimation using Si O 2 thin film Rev. Sci. Instrum. 79, 054902 (2008); 10.1063/1.2927253Thermal wave studies of thin metal films and structures AIP Conf.

Three nonretriggerable current-mode monostable multivibrators constructed of one operational transresistance amplifier (OTRA) and a few passive elements are presented in this brief. Two of these circuits are operated respectively under positive and negative triggering modes. However, the recovery time cannot be adjusted once the pulsewidth is decided. The third topology, which can work in either triggering mode, features a tunable recovery time. The proposed current-mode monostables are simpler compared to their counterparts composed of operational amplifiers. The circuit operations are described in detail. Experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.Index Terms-Current-mode monostable multivibrator, nonretriggerable, operational transresistance amplifier (OTRA).

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SUMMARYA simple current-input Schmitt trigger is presented and implemented. It consists of one operational transresistance amplifier and a resistor. In addition, the circuit offers dual hysteresis mode operations within the same topology. The circuit operations are described. Experimental and simulation results are given to verify the theoretical analysis.

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We have evaluated the thermal conductivity of Si/SiGe superlattice films by theoretical analysis and experiment. In experiments, the ultrahigh vacuum chemical vapor deposition is employed to form the Si/ Si 0.71 Ge 0.29 and Si/ Si 0.8 Ge 0.2 superlattice films. The cross-plane thermal conductivities of these superlattice films are measured based on the 3 method. In the theoretical analysis, the phonon transport in Si/ Si 1−x Ge x superlattice film is explored by solving the phonon Boltzmann transport equation. The dependence of the thermal conductivity of the Si/ Si 1−x Ge x superlattice films on the superlattice period, the ratio of layer thicknesses, and the interface roughness is of interest. The calculations show that when the layer thickness is on the order of one percentage of the mean free path or even thinner, the phonons encounter few intrinsic scatterings and consequently concentrate in the directions having high transmissivities. Nonlinear temperature distributions are observed near the interfaces, arising from the size confinement effect and resulting in a slight increase in the film thermal resistances. The interface resistance due to the interface scattering/ roughness, which is nearly independent of the film thickness, nonetheless dominates the effective thermal conductivity, especially when the superlattice period is small. Finally the experimental measurements agree with the theoretical predictions if the specular fraction associated with the interface is properly taken.