Rarefied gas heat transfer between a nanometric tip and a sample

Pierre-Olivier Chapuis (1) , Jean-Jacques Greffet (1) , Karl Joulain (2) , Sebastian Volz (1)

1 EM2C - Laboratoire d'Énergétique Moléculaire et Macroscopique, Combustion
2 LET - Laboratoire d'études thermiques

We study the heat transfer through air between a nanometric tip and a sample. Using a Monte-Carlo simulation, we show that heat flux densities reach 40 MW.m-2 on the surface under the tip. The modeling shows a spatial resolution of 40 nm for a tip size of the same order. This proves the relevance of using quasi-ballistic conduction through air as heat transfer channel in applications such as thermally assisted data storage, scanning thermal microscopy and any temperature control techniques out of contact where a good heat localization is needed.

Mots clés: Nanoscale heat transfer Monte Carlo simulation nanoscale thermal measurements

Domaines: Architectures Matérielles [cs.AR]

Pierre-Olivier Chapuis, Jean-Jacques Greffet, Karl Joulain, Sebastian Volz. Rarefied gas heat transfer between a nanometric tip and a sample. THERMINIC 2005, Sep 2005, Belgirate, Lago Maggiore, Italy. pp.266-269. ⟨hal-00189484⟩