Measurement of porous silicon thermal conductivity by micro-Raman scattering

We present a noncontact and nondestructive method to measure thermal conduc tivity in layered materials using micro-Raman scattering. This method was s uccessfully applied to monocrystalline silicon whose thermal conductivity w as found to be 63 W/m K at about 550 degrees C and then applied to porous s ilicon layers. For a 50 mu m thick layer with 50% porosity, we found a ther mal conductivity of 1 W/m K confirming the thermal insulating properties of this material. (C) 1999 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(99)0811 8-9].