Thermal and electrical characterization of thin carbon nanotubes films

Abstract

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are grown with a three steps process combining pulsed laser deposition and radio frequency plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition techniques. The result is a dense thin film made of vertically aligned and multi-walled CNTs. To characterize the thermal properties of the film by pulsed photothermal method, it is necessary to deposit on the top a metallic thin layer of 600 nm acting as a photothermal transducer. The thermal conductivity and volumetric heat capacity of the CNTs film are identified. They are found to be respectively 180 Wm-1K-1 and 5x104 JK-1m-3. The thermal resistance between the CNTs film and the metallic transducer is identified as well: 1x10-7 Km2W-1.