Boosting Thermal Conductivity by Surface Plasmon Polaritons Propagating along a Thin Ti Film

We experimentally demonstrate boosted in-plane thermal conduction by surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along a thin Ti film on a glass substrate. Due to the lossy nature of metal, SPPs can propagate over centimeter-scale distances even along a supported metal film, and the resulting ballistic heat conduction can be quantitatively validated. Further, for a 100-nm-thick Ti film on a glass substrate, a significant enhancement of in-plane thermal conductivity compared to bulk value (similar to 25%) is experimentally shown. This Letter will provide a new avenue to employ SPPs for heat dissipation along a supported thin film, which can be readily applied to mitigate hot-spot issues in microelectronics.

Automated summary

We experimentally demonstrate boosted in-plane thermal conduction by surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating along a thin Ti film on a glass substrate. We show that SPPs can propagate over centimeter-scale distances even along a supported metal film, and quantitatively validate the resulting ballistic heat conduction. Moreover, we experimentally demonstrate a significant enhancement of in-plane thermal conductivity compared to bulk value (approximately 25%) for a 100-nm-thick Ti film on a glass substrate. This research provides a new avenue to employ SPPs for heat dissipation along a supported thin film and can potentially mitigate hot-spot issues in microelectronics.