A New Method for the Determination of the Specific Heat Capacity Using Laser-Flash Calorimetry Down to 77K

A new method for evaluation of the specific heat capacity in the temperature regime between 77K and 330K using laser-flash calorimetry is presented. Usually, laser-flash calorimetry is accomplished by performing an additional laser-flash measurement on a reference specimen with a known specific heat capacity and by comparing the maximum rear-side temperatures rises. In this study, the calibration is achieved by comparison of the rear-side temperature rise to specific-heat-capacity data determined by other methods in an adjacent temperature regime. Subsequently, the thus yielded proportional factor is used for the evaluation of the specific heat capacity from laser-flash measurements at temperatures where no specific-heat-capacity data are available. The reliability of this method is shown by performing measurements on a material with known specific heat capacity, aluminum oxide. Furthermore, the specific heat capacity and thermal conductivity of borosilicate crown glass (BK7) was determined experimentally.