Scanning Thermal Microscopy and Nanoscale Thermal Characterization

Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM) has emerged as a pivotal technique for mapping temperature fields and thermal properties with nanometre‐scale resolution. By integrating a heated or temperature‐sensitive probe with an atomic force microscope, SThM enables direct measurement of local heat flux, thermal conductivity and temperature distributions on solid surfaces. The method operates in passive mode, detecting naturally occurring thermal gradients, or in active mode, injecting heat through the probe and monitoring its interaction with the sample. Advances in probe design, signal processing and finite‐element modelling now permit quantitative characterisation, overcoming long‐standing challenges of probe calibration, contact resistance and topography‐induced artefacts. Applications span thermoelectric composites, phase‐change memories and integrated circuits, where precise thermal mapping informs device reliability, energy conversion efficiency and the study of nanoscale heat transport phenomena. The capacity to resolve sub‐10 nm spatial features and sub‐10 mK temperature differences underlines its global significance for materials science, electronics, optoelectronics and emerging biomedical micro‐devices.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have demonstrated the elimination of tip–sample contact artefacts to achieve simultaneous high spatial and thermal resolution in operating nanoscale devices. Innovations in probe design and measurement protocols have enabled mapping of local Peltier effects in metal–semiconductor nanowires and self-heating in metal interconnects with sub-10 nm spatial resolution and temperature sensitivity down to a few millikelvins. These advances provide a robust framework for imaging transient thermal phenomena in active micro- and nanoelectronic structures, establishing a benchmark for quantitative nanoscale thermometry.

Scanning Thermal Microscopy and Nanoscale Thermal Characterization publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in scanning thermal microscopy and nanoscale thermal characterization across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Scanning Thermal Microscopy (SThM): A scanning probe technique that employs a heat‐sensitive tip to map temperature or thermal properties at the nanoscale.

Thermo-resistive probe: A sensor in SThM whose electrical resistance changes with temperature, serving as both heater and thermometer.

Thermal conductivity: A material property quantifying its ability to conduct heat, expressed in W·m⁻¹·K⁻¹.

Joule heating: Heat generated when an electric current passes through a conductor due to its electrical resistance.

Thermal contact resistance: The resistance to heat flow across the interface between the probe tip and the sample surface, affecting measurement accuracy.

Calibration factor: A coefficient that relates the raw SThM signal to absolute temperature, adjusted for probe and sample conditions.

Topography artefacts: Distortions in thermal images caused by variations in sample surface geometry rather than true thermal property changes.

References

1. Quantitative Characterization of Local Thermal Properties in Thermoelectric Ceramics Using “Jumping‐Mode” Scanning Thermal Microscopy. Small Methods (2023).
2. Nanoscale temperature sensing of electronic devices with calibrated scanning thermal microscopy. Nanoscale (2023).
3. Temperature mapping of operating nanoscale devices by scanning probe thermometry. Nature Communications (2016).
4. Thermal and spatial resolution in scanning thermal microscopy images: A study on the probe’s heating parameters. Journal of Applied Physics (2021).