Apparatus for the rapid measurement of electrical transport properties forboth "needle-like" and bulk materials

Described in this article is an apparatus in which thermopower and resistiv ity can be measured almost simultaneously from 10 to 300 K in a closed cycl e refrigerator system. A distinction of this system is that the samples are mounted on integrated circuit (IC) chips for rapid introduction of the sam ple into the measurement apparatus. One advantage of this system is that th e sample is mounted on the IC chip and then all the electrical contacts to the sample can be checked prior to insertion into the sample measurement ap paratus. This system is applicable for measurement of either bulk samples ( approximately 2x2x8 mm(3)) or "needle-like" samples (approximately 0.1x0.05 x2-3 mm(3)). (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.