A method for determination of the thermal diffusivity of the solid pha
se of porous samples, based on frequency-dependent scattering of optic
ally induced thermal waves, is presented. The surface temperature vari
ation of powder-metallurgic Fe samples, due to modulated laser heating
, was detected by a photoacoustic cell in the frequency range 30-320 H
z. The thermal diffusivity values obtained from comparison with a theo
retical model (Appl. Phys. A 54 6 (1992)) are close to those of a homo
geneous sample.