Characterization of Thermal and Electrical Transport in 6.4 nm Au Films on Polyimide Film and Fiber Substrates.

The surface and grain boundary scattering impact on the electrical and thermal conduction in the thin metallic films coated on organic substrates has not been studied thoroughly. In this work, we study heat and electron transport in the 6.4 nm thin Au films supported by polyimide (PI) substrate using the transient electro-thermal technique. Thermal and electrical conductivities of 6.4 nm thin Au film are much smaller than bulk value. The thermal and electrical conductivities of 6.4 nm Au film deposited on the PI fiber are reduced by 59.3% and 76.8% in the comparison with the value of bulk Au. For PI film, the reduction of thermal and electrical conductivities is 47.9% and 46.3%. Lorenz numbers of 6.4 nm Au film supported by PI fiber and PI film are 4.51 × 10-8 WΩK-2 and 2.12 × 10-8 WΩK-2, respectively. The thermal conductivities of PI fiber and PI film are 0.87 Wm-1K-1 and 0.44 Wm-1K-1. The results reveal that PI is a suitable substrate material in the flexible electronic devices field.