Abstract
Combinatorial methods offer an efficient approach for the development of new materials. Methods for generating combinatorial samples of materials, and methods for characterizing local composition and structure by electron microprobe analysis and electron-backscatter diffraction are relatively well developed1,2,3,4. But a key component for combinatorial studies of materials is high-spatial-resolution measurements of the property of interest, for example, the magnetic, optical, electrical5, mechanical6 or thermal properties of each phase, composition or processing condition. Advances in the experimental methods used for mapping these properties will have a significant impact on materials science and engineering. Here we show how time-domain thermoreflectance can be used to image the thermal conductivity of the cross-section of a Nb–Ti–Cr–Si diffusion multiple, and thereby demonstrate rapid and quantitative measurements of thermal transport properties for combinatorial studies of materials. The lateral spatial resolution of the technique is 3.4 μm, and the time required to measure a 100 × 100 pixel image is ≈ 1 h. The thermal conductivity of TiCr2 decreases by a factor of two in crossing from the near-stoichiometric side of the phase to the Ti-rich side; and the conductivity of (Ti,Nb)3Si shows a strong dependence on crystalline orientation.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Xiang, X.-D. et al. A combinatorial approach to materials discovery. Science 268, 1738–1740 (1995).
Xiang, X.-D. Combinatorial materials synthesis and screening: an integrated materials chip approach to discovery and optimization of functional materials. Ann. Rev. Mater. Sci. 29, 149–171 (1999).
Zhao, J.-C. A combinatorial approach for efficient mapping of phase diagrams and properties. J. Mater. Res. 16, 1565–1578 (2001).
Zhao, J.-C., Jackson, M.R., Peluso, L.A. & Brewer, L. A diffusion multiple approach for accelerated design of structural materials. Mater. Res. Soc. Bull. 27, 324–329 (2002).
Gao, C. & Xiang, X.-D. Quantitative microwave near-field microscopy of dielectric properties. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 69, 3846–3851 (1998).
Oliver, W.C. & Pharr, G.M. An improved technique for determining hardness and elastic modulus using load and displacement sensing indentation experiments. J. Mater. Res. 7, 1564–1583 (1992).
Rosencwaig, A., Opsal, J., Smith, W.L. & Willenborg, D.L. Detection of thermal waves through optical reflectance. Appl. Phys. Lett. 46, 1013–1015 (1985).
Majumdar, A. Scanning thermal microscopy. Annu. Rev. Mater. Sci. 29, 505–585 (1999).
Cahill, D.G. et al. Nanoscale thermal transport. J. Appl. Phys. 93, 793–818 (2003).
Lepoutre, F. et al. Micron-scale thermal characterizations of interfaces parallel or perpendicular to the surface. J. Appl. Phys. 78, 2208–2223 (1995).
Li, B., Pottier, L., Roger, J.P., Fournier, D., Watari, K. & Hirao, K. Measuring the anisotropic thermal diffusivity of silicon nitride grains by thermoreflectance microscopy. J. Eur. Ceram. Soc. 19, 1631–1639 (1999).
Paddock, C.A. & Eesley, G.L. Transient thermoreflectance from thin metal films. J. Appl. Phys. 60, 285–290 (1986).
Young, D.A., Thomsen, C., Grahn, H.T., Maris, H.J. & Tauc, J. in Phonon Scattering in Condensed Matter (eds Anderson, A.C. & Wolfe, J.P.) 49 (Springer, Berlin, 1986).
Capinski, W.S. & Maris, H.J. Improved apparatus for picosecond pump-and-probe optical measurements. Rev. Sci. Instrum. 67, 2720–2726 (1996).
Capinski, W.S. et al. Thermal-conductivity measurements of GaAs/AlAs superlattices using a picosecond optical pump-and-probe technique. Phys. Rev. B 59, 8105–8113 (1999).
Costescu, R.M., Wall, M.A. & Cahill, D.G. Thermal conductance of epitaxial interfaces. Phys. Rev. B 67, 054302 (2003).
Zhao, J.-C., Jackson, M.R. & Peluso, L.A. Mapping of the Nb-Ti-Si phase diagram using diffusion multiples. Mater. Sci. Eng. A 111, 111 (2003).
Powell, R.W. & Tye, R.P. The thermal and electrical conductivity of titanium and its alloys. J. Less-Common Metals 3, 226–233 (1961).
Verhoeven, H. et al. Influence of the microstructure on the thermal properties of thin polycrystalline diamond films. Appl. Phys. Lett. 71, 1329–1331 (1997).
O'Hara, K.E., Hu, X.-Y. & Cahill, D.G. Characterization of nanostructured metal films by picosecond acoustics and interferometry. J. Appl. Phys. 90, 4852–4858 (2001).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by Department of Energy grant DEFG02-01ER45938 and National Science Foundation grant No. CTS-0319235. For sample characterization we used the facilities of the Center for Microanalysis of Materials and the MRL Laser Facility, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which is partially supported by the US Department of Energy under grant DEFG02-91-ER45439. We thank L. A. Peluso for microprobe analysis, L. N. Brewer for electron-backscatter diffraction, and A. M. Ritter for support.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Huxtable, S., Cahill, D., Fauconnier, V. et al. Thermal conductivity imaging at micrometre-scale resolution for combinatorial studies of materials. Nature Mater 3, 298–301 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1114
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1114
This article is cited by
-
A Square Pulse Thermoreflectance Technique for the Measurement of Thermal Properties
International Journal of Thermophysics (2022)
-
A general strategy for high-throughput experimental screening of promising bulk thermoelectric materials
Science China Materials (2021)
-
High-Throughput and Systematic Study of Phase Transformations and Metastability Using Dual-Anneal Diffusion Multiples
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A (2020)
-
Phase Equilibria and Diffusion in the Ni-Cr-Pt System at 1200 °C
Journal of Phase Equilibria and Diffusion (2019)
-
Experimental Determination of Impurity and Interdiffusion Coefficients in Seven Ti and Zr Binary Systems Using Diffusion Multiples
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A (2018)