Integrated probe station for electrical conductivity measurements from cryogenic temperatures to room temperature

用于从低温到室温的电导率测量的集成探针台

• 批准号: RTI-2017-00524
• 负责人: Fanchini, Giovanni
• 金额: $ 10.85万
• 依托单位: University of Western Ontario
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Research Tools and Instruments
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=616698
• 关键词: Integrated; probe; station; electrical; conductivity

NSERC-RTI funds are requested for a new probe station for four-point electrical conductivity measurements at varying temperature, from cryogenic (10K) to ambient conditions. Although Western is home of such a vibrant materials science community, it is dramatically underequipped for electrical measurements in the temperature domain. There is currently no research tool at Western that is suitable to electrical measurements from cryogenic to room temperature, or even in small portions of this temperature interval. Equipment of this type is only available in other universities at no less than 100 km. Access to their equipment is often not viable in practice, for a number of reasons including delicateness of samples that are not transportable, and travel costs. To the best of our knowledge, we are one of the few research-intensive universities in Canada lacking this type of broad-use equipment. This deficiency is currently jeopardizing several research plans, and we are in urgent need of an infrastructure that is currently unavailable. In addition of being a general-purpose instrument that will satisfy a critical need from a vast research community at The University of Western Ontario, the proposed probe station is uniquely suited for specific measurements by the team of coapplicants, for instance solar cell internal photoconversion efficiency and electroluminescence measurements at low temperature. Electrical conductivity measurements at varying temperature are essential to characterize the electronic structure of a large class of materials -- metals, semiconductors and insulators, and to gain insight into the relationships between their fabrication parameters, electrical transport properties, and other functions that specific materials are expected to play. Currently, there are more than 50 NSERC-funded research teams at Western that are active in developing and investigating inorganic and organic semiconducting materials, biomaterials, photonic materials, and materials for energy device applications. They encompass three Western faculties (Science, Engineering, as well as the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry) and they are clustered in the Centre for Advanced Materials and Biomaterials Research (CAMBR, see: http://www.uwo.ca/cambr). It is estimated that a total of more than 500 HQPs are currently being trained in CAMBR by the Western materials science research community, with more than 1,200 HQPs trained over the last 6 years. The largest number of these HQPs are experimentalists, for which training in general-purpose materials science experiments, including electrical measurements at varying temperature, is vital to complement specialized knowledge offered by their particular research projects. Eleven of the most active groups of the Western materials science research community are planning to extensively use the probe station, and are part of this proposal.

NSERC-RTI的资金要求在不同的温度下，从低温（10 K）到环境条件下的四点电导率测量的新探针站。虽然西部是这样一个充满活力的材料科学界的家，它是显着不足的电气测量在温度域。目前在西方没有适合从低温到室温的电测量的研究工具，甚至在这个温度区间的一小部分。这种类型的设备只有在不少于100公里的其他大学才有。实际上，由于一些原因，包括无法运输的样品的易损坏性和旅行费用，使用他们的设备往往不可行。据我们所知，我们是加拿大为数不多的研究型大学之一，缺乏这种广泛使用的设备。这一缺陷目前正在危及几项研究计划，我们迫切需要一个目前无法提供的基础设施。除了作为一个通用的仪器，将满足从一个庞大的研究社区在西安大略大学的关键需求，拟议的探针站是唯一适合于特定的测量由共同申请人的团队，例如太阳能电池的内部光电转换效率和电致发光测量在低温下。不同温度下的电导率测量对于表征一大类材料-金属，半导体和绝缘体的电子结构，以及深入了解其制造参数，电输运特性和特定材料预期发挥的其他功能之间的关系至关重要。目前，有50多个NSERC资助的研究团队在西部，积极开发和研究无机和有机半导体材料，生物材料，光子材料和材料的能源设备应用。他们包括三个西方学院（科学，工程，以及医学和牙科的Schulich学院），他们聚集在先进材料和生物材料研究中心（CAMBR，见：http：//www.uwo.ca/cambr）。据估计，目前共有500多名HQP正在接受西方材料科学研究界的CAMBR培训，在过去6年中，有1,200多名HQP接受了培训。这些HQP中最多的是实验人员，对他们来说，通用材料科学实验的培训，包括不同温度下的电气测量，对于补充他们特定研究项目提供的专业知识至关重要。西方材料科学研究界最活跃的11个团体正计划广泛使用该探测站，并且是该提议的一部分。