Thermal conductivity of dielectric thin films

A direct reading thermal comparator has been used to measure the thermal conductivity of dielectric thin-film coatings. In the past, the thermal comparator has been used extensively to measure the thermal conductivity of bulk solids, liquids, and gases. The technique has been extended to thin-film materials by making experimental improvements and by the application of an analytical heat flow model. Our technique also allows an estimation of the thermal resistance of the film/substrate interface which is shown to depend on the method of film deposition. The thermal conductivity of most thin films was found to be several orders of magnitude lower than that of the material in bulk form. This difference is attributed to structural disorder of materials deposited in thin-film form. The experimentation to date has primarily centered on optical coating materials. These coatings, used to enhance the optical properties of components such as lenses and mirrors, are damaged by thermal loads applied in high-power laser applications. It has been widely postulated that there may be a correlation between the thermal conductivity and the damage threshold of these materials.