I. Catarino et G. Bonfait, A simple calorimeter for fast adiabatic heat capacity measurements from 15to 300 K based on closed cycle cryocooler, CRYOGENICS, 40(7), 2000, pp. 425-430
A simple, cryogen-free and inexpensive experimental setup for fast heat cap
acity measurements of solids from 15 to 300 K is presented. It consists of
a thermally controlled cell, coupled to the cold finger of a Gifford-Mac Ma
hon cryocooler, containing two cheap Pt thin film resistors as thermometers
: one is simultaneously the sample holder, the sample heater and the sample
thermometer; the other resistor is used for temperature control. This calo
rimeter allows adiabatic specific heat measurements in the whole temperatur
e range in less than one hour. The heat capacity results for a 106 mg coppe
r sample match the tabulated values within 2% for T>20 K. This system was u
sed to measure the specific heat of UFexAl12-x with sample masses as low as
26 mg without performance degradation. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All
rights reserved.