The thermal conductivity of α uranium between 5 and 100 K

Abstract

The thermal and electrical conductivities of uranium have been measured over the temperature range 5–100 K. Both in the “as-received” condition and after annealing, the thermal conductivity results show a maximum at low temperatures followed by a shallow minimum with increasing temperature. Typical values for the annealed specimen were 65 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 15 K and 35 W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ at 100 K. The temperature dependence can be explained by an electronic conductivity increasing with temperature, and a significant lattice contribution which is almost constant over the temperature range 40–100 K. A small secondary peak centered at 55 K is observed associated with the α-α₀ phase transition.