Thermal characterization of nanowire array in a-Al2O3 matrix

Thermal properties characterization of Bi nanowires is critical in order to validate the predicted enhancement of their thermoelectric figure-of-merit. In this paper we report the effective thermal diffusivity of Bi nanowires array embedded in a-Al2O3 (alumina) template. The composite material consists of 85% alumina and approximately 15% Bi nanowires with a diameter of 40 nm and an average length of 40 pm. Measurements are performed along the nanowire axis. A thermal wave is produced at the front side of the sample and it is monitored at the backside through a fast thermoelectric effect. A one-dimensional heat conduction model is used to extract the thermal diffusivity.