Development of an experimental tool for measuring electrical properties ofmaterials from liquid nitrogen temperature up to 1000 degrees C

An equipment for thermally stimulated current (TSC) analysis has been devel oped. The system can be operated at temperatures from 90 up to 1273 K. The cryogenic system developed for measuring the electrical properties of mater ials below room temperature is described. The reactor containing the sample is hermetically closed and can be operated from high vacuum (<10(-5) mbar) up to 1 bar over the temperature range. Moreover, the reactor is equipped with a very simple tool for measuring the influence of the pressure on the electrical properties of the analysed samples, which is of interest if piez oelectric materials are involved. The force to be exerted on the pellet's s urface can be selected by the user. The determination of the dielectric per mittivity of BaTiO3 as a function of the temperature has been used for chec king the equipment. It has been shown that the peak temperatures for the rh ombohedral double left right arrow orthorhombic double left right arrow tet ragonal double left right arrow cubic transitions are clearly detected. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.