Scanning heat flow probe

A scanning heat flow probe, comprising:

• a probe body;
• a probe tip;
• a cantilever structure connecting the probe body to the probe tip;
• a electric current lead in the cantilever structure coupled to the probe tip and to the probe body with voltage measurement leads coupled to the electric current lead at a proximal point and a distal point;
• a first thermocouple junction positioned in the cantilever at the proximal point and electrically isolated from the electric current lead and the voltage measurement leads;
• and
• a second thermocouple junction positioned in the cantilever at the distal point and electrically isolated from the electric current lead and the voltage measurement leads;
• wherein the thermocouple junction responses at the proximate and distal points, voltages measured at the proximal and distal points, and current measured through the electric current lead are related to the heat flow properties of the cantilever structure.

A method of calibrating a scanning heat flow probe, the method comprising:

• placing the distal ends of two scanning heat flow probes having proximate and distal ends of cantilever structures in contact with each other;
• establishing a temperature gradient between the proximate ends of the two probes;
• measuring thermocouple junction voltages in each of the two probes;
• establishing a current through the two probes;
• measuring voltage drops in each of the two probes;
• and
• deriving a product of thermocouple Seebeck coefficient and cantilever structure thermal resistance from the measured voltages.

A method for fabricating a scanning heat flow probe, the method comprising:

• forming thermocouple junctions on a dielectric structure;
• forming a dielectric insulator over the thermocouple junctions;
• forming an electric current conductor with voltage sense leads proximate the thermocouple junctions over the dielectric insulator;
• and
• selectively removing material from the layers to form a cantilever structure.

A method for optimizing a design parameter for a scanning heat flow probe, the method comprising:

• determining values for a plurality of known design parameters;
• determining measurement device uncertainties for a plurality of measurement devices;
• determining a relationship between an unknown design parameter and the heat flow uncertainty based on the known design parameters and the measurement device uncertainties;
• and
• determining a value for the unknown design parameter that substantially minimizes the probe uncertainty.