Density dependence of the room temperature thermal conductivity of atomic layer deposition-grown amorphous alumina (Al2O3)

We report on the thermal conductivity of atomic layer deposition-grown amorphous alumina thin films as a function of atomic density. Using time domain thermoreflectance, we measure the thermal conductivity of the thin alumina films at room temperature. The thermal conductivities vary similar to 35% for a nearly 15% change in atomic density and are substrate independent. No density dependence of the longitudinal sound speeds is observed with picosecond acoustics. The density dependence of the thermal conductivity agrees well with a minimum limit to thermal conductivity model that is modified with a differential effective-medium approximation. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.