Heat capacity and thermal conductivity of sintered Al₂O ₃ at low temperatures by the heat pulse technique

A heat pulse is applied at one point of a finite one-dimensional sample, the other end being clamped to a heat sink. The subsequent temperature rise at the middle of the sample is analyzed by a moments method to yield the absolute values of the thermal diffusivity, the heat capacity, and the thermal conductivity. As the method is based on pulse shape analysis, an on-line computer analysis was performed. The experimental setup was used to check the possibility of using sintered Al₂O₃ (ceramic) as a suitable substrate for heat capacity experiments of thin films at low temperatures.