Measurement of the thermal conductivity of molten semiconductors

The thermal conductivity of molten InSb in the temperature range between 800 and 870 K was measured by the transient hot-wire method using a ceramic probe. The probe was fabricated from a tungsten wire printed on an alumina substrate and coated with a thin alumina layer. The thermal conductivity was found to be about 18 W· m^–·K^–at the melting point and increased moderately with increasing temperature. The thermal conductivity of alumina used as the substrate for the probe was also measured in the same temperature range.Paper presented at the Tenth Symposium on Thermophysical Properties, June 20–23, 1988, Gaithersburg, Maryland, U.S.A.On leave from NEC Corporation.