Reduction in thermal boundary conductance due to proton implantation in silicon and sapphire

We measure the thermal boundary conductance across Al/Si and Al/Al2O3 interfaces that are subjected to varying doses of proton ion implantation with time domain thermoreflectance. The proton irradiation creates a major reduction in the thermal boundary conductance that is much greater than the corresponding decrease in the thermal conductivities of both the Si and Al2O3 substrates into which the ions were implanted. Specifically, the thermal boundary conductances decrease by over an order of magnitude, indicating that proton irradiation presents a unique method to systematically decrease the thermal boundary conductance at solid interfaces. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3592822]