Blaine, Roger L.; Slough, C. Gray; Price, Duncan M.; Micro Thermal Analysis Calibration, Repeatablity and Reproducibility Proc. 27th North American Thermal Analysis Society Conference, September 20-22 (1999) Savannah, Georgia, USA, pp. 691-696; Proc. 28th North American Thermal Analysis Society Conference, October 4-6 (2000), Orlando, Florida, USA, pp. 883-888
Micro Differential Thermal Analysis (µDTA™) and Micro Thermomechanical Analysis (µTMA™) are representatives of the emerging technology known as Micro Thermal Analysis (µTA™) in which thermal analysis is performed on test specimens as small at 2 x 2 µm. Like any thermal analysis technique, interpretation of results benefits from accurate temperature information and knowledge of precision of the resultant measurement. However, µTA temperature calibration is more challenging than with its macro relatives since the calibrant comes into direct contact with the platinum sensor. This paper describes suitable calibration strategies based upon organic chemicals and polymers. Precision information for several test specimens is reported.