Thermal contact resistance between high-Tc superconductor and copper

The thermal contact resistivity (W-c) through the connection between a high-T-c superconductor and a copper block was measured from 10 to 200 K for various connecting methods using In solder, silver paste, epoxy resin and varnish as adhesives. W-c was measured by a steady state heat flow method and with a three-terminal non-steady state method by which the thermal diffusivity alpha was also determined simultaneously. It was found that W-c seriously depended on the connecting method and increased with decrease in temperature. The measured W-c values by both steady and non-steady methods were roughly consistent with each other. The proposed three-terminal non-steady state method was proved to be a useful method to determine both alpha and W-c. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.