Top.Mail.Ru

Ƶ

Russian scientists have created a device for measuring the thermal conductivity of materials
13 November

Russian scientists from Terahertz Photonics LLC, Ƶ (Ƶ), the Energy-Efficient Engineering Systems Educational Center and ITMO University have developed a method for quickly and efficiently determining the thermal conductivity of materials used in electronics. This is an important task, since the ability of the part to conduct electricity at different temperatures depends on the thermal conductivity. The principle is based on the use of two lasers — green and red. One laser heats the material, the second shines on the already heated sample. By how exactly the material reflects the laser beam, its thermal conductivity is calculated. The authors of the work applied the technique when creating a terahertz radiation sensor. Scientists have developed an effective method for measuring the thermal conductivity of materials used in electronics. The device created on its basis is not inferior in accuracy to analogues, but at the same time it is less demanding to operating conditions and cheap. The research was supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation (RNF). The results are published in the journal Applied Physics Letters.

Temperature changes can greatly affect the operation of electronics. The fact is that temperature affects the electrical conductivity of materials used in engineering. Heating can reduce the ability of many devices to conduct electric current, and in the case of lasers affects the characteristics of the emitted wave. Therefore, developers of electronics and other equipment are looking for ways to measure the ability of various materials and alloys to conduct heat — their thermal conductivity.

"The development of new methods for obtaining micro- and nanoscale structures is an important task in the modern world to save energy consumption. Obtaining and studying nano- and microstructures of complex semiconductor and semi-metallic materials sensitive to terahertz radiation at room temperature affects the development of technologies in the field of spintronics, 6G technology, and medical diagnostics. I am engaged in obtaining structures with specified properties, and as part of the research team, I selected the ratios of matter and the sizes of structures for their maximum sensitivity of nanoelements to terahertz radiation," explains Natalia Kablukova, associate professor of the Department of Physics at Ƶ, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences.

The authors of the study have created a new technique that allows you to quickly, easily and contactlessly measure the thermal conductivity of micro- and nanostructures used in electronics.

Scientists have designed a device for this purpose, which consists of two lasers. The first one is designed to heat the test sample using a light wave of the green spectrum. After that, the heated sample is irradiated with a second laser, which has a red spectrum. The degree of heating affects how the material will reflect the red laser radiation. According to this parameter, the thermal conductivity of the sample is calculated.

As the scientists noted, an important advantage of the method is that the device does not require the use of expensive pulsed lasers, is easy to check and adjust the laser beam and works at normal room temperature.

"The production of a device for measuring thermal conductivity turned out to be ten times cheaper than analogues, while it is not inferior to them in terms of characteristics. Due to this, the data on the thermal conductivity of materials obtained on this device can be used in terahertz photonics in such areas as 6G communication systems, visualization, medical diagnostics. In the future, we will try to increase its sensitivity," explained Mikhail Khodzitsky, project manager, Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, General Director of Terahertz Photonics LLC.

The research team has already applied the received device in practice when developing a new terahertz radiation sensor.