Fabrication, characterization and modeling of single-crystal thin film calorimeter sensors

Thin film based nanocalorimetry is a powerful tool to investigate nanosystems from a thermal point of view. However, nanocalorimetry is usually limited to amorphous or polycrystalline samples. Here we present a device that allows carrying out experiments on monocrystalline silicon. The monocrystalline silicon layer consists of the device layer from a silicon-on-insulator wafer and lies on a low-stress free-standing silicon nitride membrane. We applied a number of characterization techniques to determine the purity and quality of the silicon layer. All these techniques showed that the silicon surface is as pure as a standard silicon wafer and that it is susceptible to standard surface cleaning procedures. Additionally, we present a numerical model of the nanocalorimeter, which highlights that the silicon layer acts as a thermal plate thereby significantly improving thermal uniformity. This nanocalorimeter constitutes a promising device for the study of single-crystal Si surface processes and opens up an exciting new field of research in surface science. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.