Electrostatically driven collapsible Au thin films assembled using transfer printing for thermal switching

We report deterministic assembly of 100 nm thick suspended gold films using transfer printing that are mechanically collapsible. We demonstrate the latter using electrostatic force to establish and break physical contact between the film and a silicon dioxide substrate in a reversible and repeatable manner. Modeling the thermal conductance at the interface between the suspended film and the substrate, we show that the fabricated structure behaves as a thermal switch. The on-state corresponds to the collapsed film and the off-state to the fully suspended film. The on- to off-state ratio for thermal conductance exceeds 10 ⁶ in theory.