Some Experiments on Thermal Contact at Low Temperatures

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Abstract
An apparatus for studying heat contact at low temperatures is described. Measurements of heat transfer between various surfaces in vacuo have been made. The thermal conductance is independent of the area of the surfaces and is nearly proportional to the force between them, up to forces of about 200 lb. At helium temperatures the conductance between all the types of surfaces examined is proportional to T2, but the temperature dependence is small at nitrogen temperatures. For metal contacts the electrical conductance is extremely sensitive to the previous history of the surfaces, but the heat conductance is little dependent on this. The thermal conductance is always much greater than corresponds to the electrical conductance according to the Wiedemann‐Franz‐Lorenz law and this fact, together with the differing behavior of the two conductances under changing loads, suggests that nearly all the heat flow takes place through electrically nonconducting parts of the surface. The main results are collected together in a table.

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