In this paper, the optical absorption and heat transfer coefficients of a single suspended 4.3 lm diameter
carbon fiber have been measured in the experiment. The test fiber was first heated locally by a laser beam
and the temperature rise was measured from the shifts in the Raman G-band frequency, and then the
laser heating was replaced by an electrical current heating, the electrical power was adjusted to have
the same temperature rise. Since the electrical power can be measured accurately, the absorbed laser
power can be extracted from one-dimensional heat conduction analysis and the heat transfer coefficient
can be obtained as well. The present experimental results show that the optical absorption of 4.3 lm
diameter carbon fiber is 39.62% and the heat transfer coefficient is 4150Wm2 K1, which agrees well
with the prediction of published experimental empirical formula.