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Updated: May 9, 2026

The Frequency Domain Thermoreflectance Technique for Thermal Property Measurements
Published on: December 5, 2025
Invited article: micron resolution spatially resolved measurement of heat capacity using dual-frequency time-domain
Changdong Wei1, Xuan Zheng, David G Cahill
1Department of Materials Science and Engineering, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210, USA.
Abstract:
A pump-probe photothermal technique - dual-frequency time-domain thermoreflectance - was developed for measuring heat capacity with a spatial resolution on the order of 10 μm. The method was validated by measuring several common materials with known heat capacity. Rapid measurement of composition-phase-property relationships was demonstrated on Ti-TiSi2 and Ni-Zr diffusion couples; experimental values of heat capacity of the intermetallic compounds in these diffusion couples were compared with literature values and CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagram) calculations. The combination of this method and diffusion multiples provides an efficient way to generate thermodynamic data for CALPHAD modeling and database construction. The limitation of this method in measuring low thermal diffusivity materials is also discussed.
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