Steady State Technique for Low Temperature Heat Capacity of Small Samples

Abstract

Reported here is an elegant method based on steady state or ac calorimetry technique, using laser beam as heat source, to measure absolute heat capacity of tiny samples of mass l-100mgm. The results on high purity copper, gold, nickel and isotopes of molybdenum are given to show that the absolute accuracy of this method is ~ ± 2%, at least comparable, if not better than conventional heat pulse techniques, which require bulky samples ~ 100 times larger. The possible variations of this method will also be discussed.