The thermal conductivity of C17510 beryllium–copper alloy below 1 K Original Research Article

We have measured the low temperature thermal conductivity of the beryllium–copper alloy C17510 TF00. This is a high conductivity (low beryllium content) alloy. Measurements were made at temperatures between 100 mK and 1 K. A conductivity of 2.39 (T/1 K)0.99 W m−1 K−1 was found. The linear variation with temperature and good agreement with the prediction from the electrical resistivity at 4.2 K suggest that thermal conduction is predominately electronic. The conductivity is considerably higher than for high strength (2% beryllium) beryllium–copper alloys. This is therefore a useful material when high strength and thermal conductivity are both required. The accuracy of the measurements was checked by measuring the thermal conductivity of aluminium 6061-T6 above the superconducting transition temperature; good agreement was seen with data in the literature.