University of Virginia Patent Foundation

Jeffrey L Braun

Patrick Edward Hopkins

John T Gaskins

David H Olson

A method of measuring thermal conductivity of a material includes focusing a modulated pump laser beam having a modulation frequency that induces a cyclical steady-state temperature rise at a spot of a material, focusing a CW probe laser beam at the spot and generating a reflected probe beam reflected from the spot on the material, the reflected probe beam having a magnitude of a reflectance signal as a function of the temperature of the material and being periodic corresponding to the cyclical temperature rise, measuring the magnitude of the reflectance signals of the reflected probe beam, and determining the thermal conductivity by fitting the power of the pump beam and the measured magnitude of the reflectance signal to a thermal model which is a function of a thermal conductivity of the material relating the radial heat flux to the temperature rise.

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Charlottesville, VA, United States of America

Jeffrey L Braun