Focus on Dielectric Spectroscopy Laboratory

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Dielectric Spectroscopy for Soft Matter Research

The Dielectric Spectroscopy Laboratory (DSL) is one of the laboratories of the Material Physics Center (MPC), a joint research center set up in 2001 by the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) in collaboration with the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).
Since then, the Polymers and Soft Matter Group (PSMG) laboratory has been further developed and upgraded in order to improve the quality of the different experimental set-ups and to facilitate the operation of the infrastructure by external users. The operative set-ups of DSL offer the unique possibility of performing high precision dielectric relaxation experiments over a huge range of frequencies (from 10-5 to 3-1010 Hz, i.e. nearly 16 orders of magnitude).
Depending on the frequency range involved, these experiments can be carried out in different sample environments where tem- perature can be varied over a wide range (from 20 - 600 K), and pressure can be increased up to 300 MPa. Furthermore, the existing equipment allows experiments to be performed with simultaneous access to electric/dielectric and mechanical/rheological frequency dependent properties. :
Technical details of the various instruments can be found on the ESMI website and at: www.sc.ehu.es/sqwpolim/PSMG/dielab.html
Most of the equipment uses widely-available software, and the temperature control systems are such that different set-ups do not generally involve specific training for each piece of equipment. In addition to the dielectric spectroscopy instruments, the infratructure also provides several facilities for sample preparation and standard sample characterization (such as DSC, TGA, PVT, etc.). Details can be found at: www.sc.ehu.es/sqwpolim/PSMG/infr.html
The scientists in charge of the various instruments are:
Dr. Silvina Cerveny (Micro-Wave and Terajertz spectrometers), Dr. Gustavo Schwartz (non-conventional sample environment), Dr. Silvia Arrese-Igor (Time-Domain and stanstandard Dielectric Spectrometers). ■
The current range of instruments, listed in order of frequency range, are:
- Time-Domain Dielectric Spectrometer, 10-5 - 1 Hz
- Broad-Band Dielectric Spectrometer, 10-3 - 107 Hz
- High-Frequency Dielectric Spectrometer, 106 - 109 Hz - Micro-Wave Spectrometer, 108 - 5x 1010 Hz
- Terahertz Spectrometer, 5x1010 - 4x1012 Hz
By combining several instruments, a huge dynamic range is achieved, allowing the investigation of dynamic processes over more than 16 orders of magnitude on the time/frequency scale. Several non-conventional sample environments are available over limited frequency ranges. For example, measurement temperatures can be reduced toas low as 10K. Moreover, high-pressure measurements are possible up to 300 MPa.