Comprehensive characterization of thermophysical properties in solids using thermal impedance

Thermal impedance Zth(iω) is a way of defining the thermophysical characteristics and behavior of thermal systems. Existing photoacoustic and photothermal approaches based on thermal impedance formalism merely allows a partial thermal characterization of the materials (generally, either thermal diffusivity or thermal effusivity). In this work, a new approach based on the thermal impedance concept in terms of its characteristic thermal time constant is developed from thermal quadrupoles formalism. The approach outlined in this contribution presents a set of analytical equations in which through a single measurement of thermal impedance is sufficient to obtain a comprehensive characterization of the thermophysical properties of solid materials in a simple way. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.