Patent ID: 8066429

Claim:
A thermal measurement system, comprising: a measurement assembly for receiving a sample, the measurement assembly comprising an elongated cylinder; an infrared lamp assembly disposed circumferentially around the elongated circular cylinder and comprising an infrared reflector, wherein the infrared reflector includes a cavity having a length approximately the same as that of the elongated cylinder, and a bottom plate; a thermal resistor coupled to the measurement assembly and having a variable thermal resistance, the thermal resistor comprising: a gas-filled gap; a high thermal conductivity plate that is integral to the measurement assembly; and a heat sink surface disposed on a side of the gas-filled gap opposite to the high thermal conductivity plate; a heat sink thermally coupled to the thermal resistor and to the infrared lamp assembly, the heat sink comprising: an outer portion configured to abut against the bottom plate; a heat sink extension configured to extend through an opening in the bottom plate when the outer portion abuts against the bottom plate; and a seal assembly coupled to the measurement assembly, wherein the thermal resistor is operable to vary the thermal resistance between the measurement assembly and the heat sink during sample measurement, and wherein the seal assembly is operable to adjust a distance between the high thermal conductivity plate and the heat sink extension, so as to produce a gas-filled gap having a vertical height of less than a few tenths of a millimeter between the high conductivity plate and a top of the heat sink extension.