Thermal Properties of Two Materials Commonly Used in Low Temperature Laboratories

Abstract

We carried out measurements of thermal conductance and thermal contact resistance of two materials commonly used in low temperature laboratories such as an Electro-Magnetic Interference (EMI) Filter and Stycast 2850 FT epoxy. Both samples were attached on a heat sink made of oxygen-free high thermal conductivity (OFHC) copper and characterized at temperatures between 0.3 K and 4.5 K, using a 3He refrigerator mounted on a pumped 4He cryostat. For the EMI filter we applied a varied input power from 0.25 up to 50 μW to the heater which is soldered to its central pin, whereas for a thin layer of Stycast sandwiched between a copper strap and the heat sink we applied an input power from 10 up to 810 μW. The temperature dependences obtained in each case were $K=3\,{\cdot}\,10^{-5}T^{2.3}~[\frac{\mathrm{W}}{\mathrm{K}}]$ , and $R_{K}=8.4\,{\cdot}\,10^{-3}T^{1.7}\ [\frac{\mathrm{W}}{\mathrm{cm}^{2}\,\mathrm{K}}]$ respectively.