High Spatial Resolution Imaging of Transient Thermal Events Using Materials with Thermal Memory

International audienceThe accurate control of temperature is a common requirement in science and technology. In particular, although much effort has been devoted in the past decade to the development of nanoscale thermometry methods, we currently lack the tools to map transient thermal events with high spatial resolution. Here we experimentally demonstrate the working principle of a new kind of nanothermometer using materials with thermal memory as time-temperature integrators. As an application, we tackle the outstanding problem of spatially resolving a brusque erratic heating event in an operating microelectronic device. We show that a spatially and temporally confined temperature change leads to a local (reversible) modulation of the optical properties of our material. Thanks to the virtually infinite lifetime of the metastable states within the bistability region, this optical information can be retrieved later on by a simple reflectivity measurement, either in far-or near-field. This concept enabled us to acquire sub-wavelength resolution images of transient (s scale) heating events. The recent tendency of miniaturization and achievements in nanoscience and nanotechnology brought about the necessity of accurate temperature measurements on a reduced size scale [1-4]. In addition, the heat exchange in tiny volumes occurs promptly, hence the measurement needs to be done most often in a limited time window. The lack of spatio-temporal resolution and the increasingly invasive nature of common temperature sensors are the main obstacles