Probing the local temperature by in situ electron microscopy on a heated Si3N4 membrane

We present a method allowing us to obtain localized heating that is compatible with high-temperature operation and real time scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Localized heating is induced by flowing current through tungsten nanowires deposited by focused ion-beam-induced deposition on a 50-nm-thick Si3N4 membrane. Based on the heat transport between the nanowire and the substrate, we applied an analytical model to obtain the temperature profile as a function of electrical power. In this model, the key parameter is the thermal resistance between the nanowire and the substrate that we determined experimentally by measuring electrical power and local temperature. The local temperature is measured by observing the evaporation of gold nanoparticle by electron microscopy. These in situ heating and temperature-probing capabilities are used to study the crystallization of the Si3N4 membrane and the growth of silicon nanowires. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.