Study on the cross plane thermal transport of polycrystalline molybdenum nanofilms by applying picosecond laser transient thermoreflectance method

Thin metal films are widely used as interconnecting wires and coatings in electronic devices and optical components. Reliable thermophysical properties of the films are required from the viewpoint of thermal management. The cross plane thermal transport of four polycrystalline molybdenum nanofilms with different thickness deposited on glass substrates has been studied by applying the picosecond laser transient thermoreflectance technique. The measurement is performed by applying both front pump-front probe and rear pump-front probe configurations with high quality signal. The determined cross plane thermal diffusivity of the Mo films greatly decreases compared to the corresponding bulk value and tends to increase as films become thicker, exhibiting significant size effect. The main mechanism responsible for the thermal diffusivity decrease of the present polycrystalline Mo nanofilms is the grain boundary scattering on the free electrons. Comparing the cross plane thermal diffusivity and inplane electrical conductivity indicates the anisotropy of the transport properties of the Mo films.