Size and interfacial effects on the thermophysical properties of solid thin films and microstructures

Recent years have witnessed the emergence of the field of microscale heat transfer . The origin of this field lies in understanding the energy interaction in miniaturized systems. Microstructures with extremely small spatial dimensions are routinely fabricated using moderndeposition and patterning techniques, and serve as the basis for integrated electronic circuits, photovoltaic cells, infrared detectors, sensors, actuators and laser diodes. As the characteristic device size decreases, however, the material no longer behaves as a bulk material. Investigations reported …