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Science 13 February 2004:
Vol. 303. no. 5660, pp. 989 - 990
DOI: 10.1126/science.1093711
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Reports

Ultra-Low Thermal Conductivity in W/Al2O3 Nanolaminates

R. M. Costescu,1 D. G. Cahill,1* F. H. Fabreguette,2 Z. A. Sechrist,2 S. M. George2

Atomic layer deposition and magnetron sputter deposition were used to synthesize thin-film multilayers of W/Al2O3. With individual layers only a few nanometers thick, the high interface density produced a strong impediment to heat transfer, giving rise to a thermal conductivity of ~0.6 watts per meter per kelvin. This result suggests that high densities of interfaces between dissimilar materials may provide a route for the production of thermal barriers with ultra-low thermal conductivity.

1 Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
2 Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: d-cahill{at}uiuc.edu

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)