Nanoscale heat generation in a single Si nanowire

Abstract

We develop a nanoheater utilizing a single Si nanowire with a porous segment that produces localized heat. The 19-fold higher resistivity of the porous segment compared to the solid segment in the nanowire facilitates the substantial confinement of heat to the porous segment by Joule heating. The heat profiles of the nanowire are examined using scanning thermal microscopy, a direct thermal imaging technique. The profiles recorded along the longitudinal and cross-sectional axes of the nanowire reveal that heat is concentrated in the sub-micrometer region of the porous segment, whereas it is uniformly distributed along the whole axis of the homogeneous solid Si nanowire. Moreover, the HfO2-passivated nanowire device exhibits a temperature increase above 10 °C within a 0.4 × 1 μm2 area, which is advantageous compared to the 3.3 °C increase observed in the hBN-passivated device. These point heaters demonstrate considerable potential for future applications in biomedical engineering and optoelectronics.