Mems-based Scanning Calorimeter for Thermodynamic Properties of Nanostructures

Th ermodynam ic properties of sm all stru ctures, su ch as the m eltin g poin ts and the process of m ass tran sport, can be con sid erably different compared to materia l in th e bu lk form . Calorim etry is th e standard experim en tal techniqu e u sed to m easu re thermodynam ics properties. Howev er, th is techniqu e is extremely difficu lt to u se for th e study of sm all stru ctures because the amoun t of energy exchanged du rin g the m easu rem en t is extremely sm all Ð proportion al to the amoun t of materia l. In order to m easu re sm all amounts of thermal energy we hav e scaled down the physica l size of th e calorim eter u sing MEMS technology. Th is th in -film differentia l scannin g calorim eter has extremely high sen sitiv ity, 2 Ê ; 0.01 mJ r cm , and is capable of m easurin g the m eltin g ph enomenon of 1 A of Sn deposited onto a SiN su rface. In th is article we inv estigate the size dependence of both the m eltin g poin t and the heat of fu sion for u ltra th in film s of Sn nanon stru ctures u sin g mu ltiple ev aporation and thermal ann ealin g cycles.