Thermal wave methods in investigation of thermal properties of solids

A short review of thermal wave measuring methods is presented in the paper. Based on fundamental laws of heat transport, experimental methods for determination of thermal properties of solids are divided into two groups – steady flux techniques and variable flux ones. Special attention is paid to the wave methods belonging to the second group and methods used by the author in his experiments. The idea of ?ngstr?m's method for determination of the thermal diffusivity of metals is reminded. Then different modifications of this classical technique using in investigations of bulk materials and thin films are described. Examples of a few thermal wave measurements are also presented.