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  • Open Access

Simultaneous measurement of thermal conductivity and specific heat in quasi-two-dimensional membranes using the 3ω method

Yiwei Le1, Erdong Song1, Jason Li1, and Erik A. Henriksen1,2,*

  • *Contact author: henriksen@wustl.edu
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Phys. Rev. Applied 25, 034002 – Published 2 March, 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/pk7p-jxdp

Abstract

With a view to measuring the thermal properties of exfoliated atomically thin materials, we demonstrate simultaneous measurements of the thermal conductivity and specific heat in suspended membranes. We use the 3ω technique applied to quasi-two-dimensional silicon nitride membranes having a metal line heater patterned on the surface to both deliver heat and directly measure the thermal impedance of the membrane at the heating frequency, Z(2ω). We derive an expression for the complex thermal impedance as a function of frequency, approximating the actual rectangular membranes with a one-dimensional model. The derivation accounts for potential parasitic heat-loss mechanisms, including conduction along the heater line and by the gas load in an imperfect vacuum. Qualitatively, the thermal impedance response resembles a low-pass filter due to the combination of the total thermal resistance and total specific heat. Fitting Z(2ω) to measurements across a few decades in frequency, we extract values of the thermal conductivity and specific heat of silicon nitride in agreement with literature values. We also study the dependence on the heating current and compare it to measurements of the thermal conductivity at zero frequency.

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Phys. Rev. Applied 25, 034002– Published 2 March, 2026
  • Received 27 August 2025
  • Revised 5 December 2025
  • Accepted 2 February 2026
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Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

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