History repeats itself: Progress in ac calorimetry

Periodic heating has been applied more than a century ago to study thermophysical properties of materials. The measurement of heat capacity using a.c. calorimetry was first performed by Corbino in 1910. In connection with the technological development and the progress in science and technology, new and sophisticated apparatus have been constructed in an a.c. calorimetric heat capacity measurements. In this measurement, the noise level of a.c. temperature can be reduced markedly as opposed to the other nonperiodic methods and, therefore, high precision determination can be attained. Furthermore, not only the amplitude but also the phase in a.c. temperature is a useful parameter in constructing much advanced apparatus. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.