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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten
DS 16: Thin Film Application
DS 16.1: Talk
Thursday, March 12, 2026, 09:30–09:45, REC/C213
An on-chip heating platform for localized thin-film repair, non-equilibrium microstructures, and phase control — •Nensi Toncich, Nerea Abando Beldarrain, Jacopo Simone Crippa, Henning Galinski, and Ralph Spolenak — Laboratory for Nanometallurgy, Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Localized on-chip heat generation and rapid thermal quenching is critical for systematic probing of phase transitions of nanofabricated systems, tailoring non-equilibrium microstructures and localized thin-film repair. Here we introduce a reactive multilayer [1] based on-chip heating platform that enables temperatures above 1000 ∘C, millisecond-scale heating and self-quenching rates on the order of 105 ∘C s−1 while preventing chemical interdiffusion. Using a diffusion-resistant, thermally conductive barrier, this platform enables three distinct, reproducible outcomes across different material systems: (i) localized melting and reflow of Au to repair electrical discontinuities, (ii) controlled microstructural evolution of Au, transforming equiaxed grains into elongated, high-aspect-ratio structures that are difficult to achieve with conventional processing, and (iii) a monoclinic-to-tetragonal phase transformation in the ZrO2, demonstrating precise, site-specific phase engineering.
By combining ultrafast, high-temperature thermal pulses with diffusion-stable barriers, this platform offers a unique strategy for precise, on-demand modification of thin films, with broad applications in electronics, functional coatings, and nanofabrication.
[1] Toncich N. et al., J. Appl. Phys. 137(17), 2025
Keywords: Reactive Multilayers; Ultrafast Heating; Thin-Film Repair; Microstructure Control; Phase Transformation