High-resolution simultaneous photothermal measurements of thermal parameters at a phase transition with the photopyroelectric technique

Photothermal techniques allow, under particular experimental conditions, the simultaneous determination of specific heat, thermal conductivity, and thermal diffusivity. A comparison has been made between measurements performed with the gas-microphone (P) configuration and the photopyroelectric (PPE) one at a liquid-crystal second-order phase transition. An increase in the sensitivity with respect to thermal parameter variation has been observed in the case of PPE.