A Technique for the Rapid Measurement of Thermoelectric Power

Authors

G.R. Caskey, Center for Materials Science and Engineering, Cambridge, Massachusetts
David J. Sellmyer, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
L.G. Rubin, Francis Bitter National Magnet Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Date of this Version

October 1969

Comments

Published by American Institute of Physics. Rev, Sci. Instr. 40, 1280 (1969). ©1969 American Institute of Physics. Permission to use. http://rsi.aip.org/.

Abstract

A new technique is described for rapid measurement of the thermoelectric power of rod-shaped specimens over a wide temperature range. The apparatus utilizes sensitive commercial dc amplifier for the sample and temperature gradient voltages and a multiple-point recorder for sampling these voltages as well as the sample temperature signal. The technique eliminates spurious thermal emf's in the leads and is based upon on-the-run recording of the sample and temperature gradient voltages as the temperature gradient slowly increases. As a test of this technique, the thermopower of pure nickel was measured between 4.2 and 300 K and the results are compared with other measurements using conventional techniques. ©1969 The American Institute of Physics