New experimental methodology, setup and LabView program for accurate absolute thermoelectric power and electrical resistivity measurements between 25 and 1600 K: application to pure copper, platinum, tungsten, and nickel at very high temperatures.

In this paper we describe an experimental setup designed to measure simultaneously and very accurately the resistivity and the absolute thermoelectric power, also called absolute thermopower or absolute Seebeck coefficient, of solid and liquid conductors/semiconductors over a wide range of temperatures (room temperature to 1600 K in present work). A careful analysis of the existing experimental data allowed us to extend the absolute thermoelectric power scale of platinum to the range 0-1800 K with two new polynomial expressions. The experimental device is controlled by a LabView program. A detailed description of the accurate dynamic measurement methodology is given in this paper. We measure the absolute thermoelectric power and the electrical resistivity and deduce with a good accuracy the thermal conductivity using the relations between the three electronic transport coefficients, going beyond the classical Wiedemann-Franz law. We use this experimental setup and methodology to give new very accurate results for pure copper, platinum, and nickel especially at very high temperatures. But resistivity and absolute thermopower measurement can be more than an objective in itself. Resistivity characterizes the bulk of a material while absolute thermoelectric power characterizes the material at the point where the electrical contact is established with a couple of metallic elements (forming a thermocouple). In a forthcoming paper we will show that the measurement of resistivity and absolute thermoelectric power characterizes advantageously the (change of) phase, probably as well as DSC (if not better), since the change of phases can be easily followed during several hours/days at constant temperature.

Segregation and temperature effect on the atomic structure of Bi(30)Ga(70) liquid alloy.

We investigate the structure of liquid monotectic alloy Bi(30)Ga(70) above and below the critical point. The three-dimensional structure at 265 °C is modelled by means of the reverse Monte Carlo simulation technique using neutron and x-ray diffraction experimental data. It is shown that atomic segregation on the short-range scale exists in the liquid Bi(30)Ga(70) slightly above the critical temperature (T(C) = 262 °C). We present also the structure factors of Bi(30)Ga(70) liquid alloy under the critical point at 240 and 230 °C obtained with neutron diffraction to highlight the temperature effect in the atomic structure.

Magnetic susceptibility and electrical resistivity of dilute liquid copper - iron alloys.

Electrical resistivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements on dilute liquid CuFe alloys are reported. Small additions of Fe increase the resistivity of liquid Cu in a drastic manner, whereas the temperature coefficient is found to be decreased. Due to the localized magnetic moments of the impurity atoms the diamagnetism of Cu is converted into a strong temperature-dependent paramagnetism indicating about 3.5 unpaired d electrons per Fe atom. The electronic properties of CuFe resemble those of liquid CuMn and AuFe which, in the solid state, are known for their Kondo-like behaviour. The experimental findings are tentatively interpreted in terms of spin-disorder scattering with special emphasis on the negative temperature coefficient of the impurity resistivity.