Three years ago the Physics Department purchased the RMC closed cycle helium refrigerator shown above. This cryostat is capable of cooling a sample from room temperature (300K) down to 8 Kelvin, that is, just 8 degrees Kelvin above absolute zero. The instrument has several interchangable sample holders enabling it to be readily used for several different experiments. Sample temperature is controlled by a Lakeshore Cryotronics model 330 autoranging controller with GPIB interface.
This cryostat is used by students in Intermediate Laboratory, Advanced Laboratory, and is also available for faculty and student research.