Studying Electrical Conductivity Using a 3D Printed Four-Point Probe Station

Autor/inn/en	Lu, Yang; Santino, Luciano M.; Acharya, Shinjita; Anandarajah, Hari; D'Arcy, Julio M.
Titel	Studying Electrical Conductivity Using a 3D Printed Four-Point Probe Station
Quelle	In: Journal of Chemical Education, 94 (2017) 7, S.950-955 (6 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Santino, Luciano M.) ORCID (D'Arcy, Julio M.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0021-9584
DOI	10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00119
Schlagwörter	Energy; Electronics; Energy Education; Power Technology; Undergraduate Students; Problem Solving; Scientific Concepts; Scientific Principles; Scientific Methodology; Laboratory Safety; Teaching Methods + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Energie; Elektronik; Antriebstechnik; Problemlösen; Teaching method; Lehrmethode; Unterrichtsmethode
Abstract	The design and fabrication of functional scientific instrumentation allows students to forge a link between commonly reported numbers and physical material properties. Here, a two-point and four-point probe station for measuring electrical properties of solid materials is fabricated via 3D printing utilizing an inexpensive benchtop fused-deposition modeling system and designed by standard computer-aided design software. Stainless steel tapestry needles serve as probes for contacting a sample; these are also electroplated in order to study their electrical performance, and provide a framework for discussion of electrical charge transport, contact resistance, and conductivity in materials. A microcontroller board is integrated into the probe and controlled using open-source software. Our robust and simple design provides an instrument that is easily fabricated by students and readily applied to a wide range of classroom settings focused on materials science, mechanical and electrical engineering, as well as solid-state physics and chemistry. This 3D printed probe station costs less than $100 US in materials per unit excluding source meter. We demonstrate that two- and four-point resistance measurements carried out on a solid-state semiconductor differ only by less than 5% in magnitude when compared to data collected using a standard and expensive commercial probe station. Two- and four-point resistance measurements carried out on gold deposited on silicon and on the soft nanostructured organic semiconductor poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) result in reproducible and accurate current versus voltage (I-V) curves. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Division of Chemical Education, Inc and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01