Abstract

Thermal wave technology has proved a very effective means for investigating the near surface region of many different materials. We have performed thermal wave imaging experiments at room temperture on sintered, thin-film, and singlecrystal samples of high-T_c superconductor materials. These images often exhibit features not visible in an optical image. In addition, we have used the thermal wave technique to measure the local anisotropy in the room-temperature thermal conductivity of single crystals of YBa₂Cu₃O_7−x. Our results indicate that the anisotropy for the thermal conductivity is very similar to that reported for the electrical conductivity.

© 1988 Optical Society of America