Microgradient-heaters as tools for high-throughput experimentation

A microgradient-heater (MGH) was developed, and its feasibility as a tool for high-throughput materials science experimentation was tested. The MGH is derived from microhot plate (MHP) systems and allows combinatorial thermal processing on the micronano scale. The temperature gradient is adjustable by the substrate material. For an Au-coated MGH membrane a temperature drop from 605 to 100 °C was measured over a distance of 965 μm, resulting in an average temperature change of 0.52 K/μm. As a proof of principle, we demonstrate the feasibility of MGHs on the example of a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. The achieved results show discontinuous changes in surface morphology within a continuous TiO ₂ film. Furthermore the MGH can be used to get insights into the energetic relations of film growth processes, giving it the potential for microcalorimetry measurements.