Thermal wave propagation through solid-solid non-ideal interfaces in multilayer semiconductor devices is considered. A theoretical model is developed for thermal wave propagation, and the laser photothermal probe beam deflection method is used for experimental study of heat transport through multilayered samples with vertical joint interfaces. Experimental and theoretical results are presented for bonded and soldered joints. It is shown that, in general case, both the thermal resistance and the heat capacity of the joint should be considered to describe adequately experimental data and to determine thermophysical properties of a separate layer. It is shown that the real thermal resistance of a soldered joint may be much higher than the predicted one basing on tabulated characteristics. The paper demonstrates that the laser photothermal beam-deflection methods can be applied for testing the thermal contact quality between elements of multilayered semiconductor structures, for example, a multijunction solar cell, assembling by various technologies. These methods make possible to evaluate quantitatively the thermal resistance and heat capacity of thermal contacts at the micrometer scale. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.