A Platform for Thermal Property Measurements and Transmission Electron Microscopy of Nanostructures

Measurements of the electrical and thermal transport properties of one-dimensional nanostructures (e.g., nanotubes and nanowires) typically are obtained without detailed knowledge of the specimens atomic-scale structure or defects. To address this deficiency, we have developed a microfabricated, chip-based characterization platform that enables both transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of atomic structure and defects as well as measurement of the thermal transport properties of individual nanostructures. The platform features a suspended heater line that contacts a suspended nanostructure/nanowire at its midpoint, which is placed on the platform using in-situ scanning electron microscope nanomanipulators. Because the nanostructure is suspended across a through-hole, we have used TEM to characterize the atomic and defect structure (dislocations, stacking faults, etc.) of the test sample. As a model study, we report the use of this platform to measure the thermal conductivity and defect structure of GaN nanowires. The utilization of this platform for the measurements of other nanostructures will also be discussed.