Research on Measuring Thermal Conductivity of Quartz and Sapphire Glass Using Rear-Side Photothermal Deflection Method

As the display industry continues to advance, various new materials are being developed for utilizing microtechnology and nanotechnology in display panels. Among these, transparent materials have been widely applied to the internal wiring of displays and flexible substrates, owing to their high optical transmittance, isotropy, and anisotropy. Thus, measurement of the thermophysical properties of various transparent materials is important. This study measured thermal conductivity by selecting quartz, a transparent isotropic material, and sapphire glass, a transparent anisotropic material, as measurement target materials using a rear-side photothermal deflection method. Measurements were made via a three-dimensional unsteady heat conduction equation, to which complex transformation was applied and numerically analyzed using COMSOL Multiphysics. Phase delays for a pump beam and a probe beam for a relative position were derived through a deflection analysis. From the derived phase delays between the numerical analysis and experimental result with optical alignment, the absolute and relative errors of quartz were appropriately confirmed to be 0.069 W/m-K and 5%, respectively, while those of the sapphire glass were likewise confirmed to be 0.55 W/m-K and 1.5%, respectively.

In Situ Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy Revealing Intermolecular Interactions upon Self-Assembly of Dye Monolayers

Thin functional layers on surfaces or interfaces determine their function when integrated into systems and devices. Such functional layers are synthesized frequently via self-assembly of molecular monolayers (SAMs). To study...

Improvement of the Thermal Properties of Sorel Cements

Sorel cements is a promising building material for insulation applications. Indeed, the effect of polyvinyl acetate polymer on cements has been investigated. The polyvinyl acetate polymer was added to the cement matrix with a percentage of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% by weight of Sorel cement. The thermal properties of Sorel cement were determined by photothermal deflection technique. Thermal properties such as thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity are measured by coincidentally the experimental curves of the photothermal signal with the best corresponding theoretical curves. The results revealed that the incorporation of polyvinyl acetate polymer enhance the thermal insulation and reduce the compressive strength of Sorel cement.

Thermal Relaxation Spectra for Evaluating Luminescence Quantum Efficiency of CASN:Eu2+ Measured by Balanced-Detection Sagnac-Interferometer Photothermal Deflection Spectroscopy

Highly sensitive broadband photothermal spectroscopy with a white-light lamp as the excitation source was developed by combining a Sagnac interferometer and balanced detection with a photothermal deflection method. A probe beam was split by a birefringent crystal CaCO3 into signal and reference beams with a balanced intensity. This balanced detection enabled the measurement of photoexcited thermal relaxation spectra of materials in the air over the whole visible range in the weak excitation limit 50 µW/cm2. The photothermal excitation spectrum of Eu2+-doped CaAlSiN3 phosphors (CASN:Eu2+) with a high luminescent quantum efficiency was measured to be distinctly different from the photoluminescence excitation spectrum which reflects the absorption spectrum, revealing the thermal relaxation mechanism of the phosphor. Assuming a typical non-radiative relaxation from the higher excited states to the lowest excited state and successively to the ground state, it is demonstrated that the photoluminescence efficiency of the phosphors is readily evaluated simply by comparing the photothermal and photoluminescence excitation spectra.