It will soon be possible to measure heat conductibility in thin material with the aid of a new instrument
An instrument which measures thermal properties of micrometer thin material will soon be a reality owing to a collaboration between Hot Disk AB and SP. The instrument provides completely new opportunities of product development to, for example, manufacturers of semiconducting material in electronic equipment.
Hot Disk AB is an instrument manufacturer with extensive experience of developing instruments for the measurement of heat conductibility and thermal inertia in different material. The company now wants to widen its product range with measurement equipment for material with extremely small dimensions. The aim is to be able to measure the heat conducting properties in micrometer thin layers in a semiconductor structure. However, this means that the sensors must be shrunk and that the electronics needs to function faster and with shorter measurement pulses, something which is not possible with the instruments currently available.
Competence within high-frequency technology was required in order to progress. Therefore, Hot Disk AB initiated a collaboration with SP in a project which was funded by Region Västra Götaland's R&D card.
The solution was in microwave electronics. SP developed measuring bridges, calculation algorithms, measurement methodology, electrical filters and balancing of drives. The project has resulted in a prototype of a new high-performing instrument model. Development of the model is continuing and appears to be capable of providing even better performance.
Owing to the good results of the project, Hot Disk AB is on its way to resolving a market need, where possible application areas of the instrument are great.