Heat transport in dielectric thin films and at solid-solid interfaces

Experimental and theoretical studies of heat transport by lattice vibrations in thin film materials are reviewed. Selected examples of experimental methods are discussed to illustrate the wide variety of methods that have been developed for thin film measurements. Dielectric thin films are typically deposited at relatively low temperatures and therefore have significant atomic-scale disorder; thin film studies are placed in the context of the more general study of heat transport in strongly disordered materials. The finite thermal conductance of solid-solid interfaces reduces the effective thermal conductivity of ultrathin dielectric films and semiconductor superlattices.