Anisotropic thermal-diffusivity measurements by a new laser-spot-heating technique

A new technique to measure thermal diffusivities of solid materials, including their anisotropic behaviours, has been developed. The technique is based on periodic heating: an intensity-modulated laser beam is focused to make a small heat spot on the front side of a thin-plate specimen and the excited temperature waves are detected by a thin thermocouple attached onto its rear side. The phase lag of temperature waves is monitored as a function of the distance between the heated spot and the sensing point. The accuracy and the applicability of the present technique were well verified by using two kinds of isotropic reference samples, an austenitic stainless steel and pure copper. The typical uncertainty is estimated to be 5% at room temperature. This technique was applied to evaluate the highly anisotropic thermal diffusivity of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Its anisotropy, D-ab/D-c (the ratio of the in-plane thermal diffusivity to the out-of-plane one), was observed to be about 220.