MercuryiTC
©2014 Oxford Instruments Omicron NanoScience. All rights reserved.
Page 13
2 MERCURY ITC BASICS
The Mercury Integrated Temperature Controller (iTC) is a high-performance laboratory
temperature-controller designed for use in cryogenic applications.
The iTC is usually used to control the temperature of a sample whose properties are being
investigated. The sample is in thermal contact with a sensor monitoring its temperature, a
method of cooling the sample to cryogenic temperatures, and an optional heater for
temperature control. The iTC can be configured to control the application of heat to a cooling
medium, as this method provides better control than adjusting the refrigeration process. The
MercuryiTC can also control sample cooling by fitting an auxiliary I/O board, which can control
the flow of gas in a continuous-flow cryostat.
The iTC is a microprocessor based instrument and is controlled by an operating program
(firmware) contained in flash memory. A four-part number, such as 2.2.6.x, indicates the
firmware version number. The first digit of this number indicates a major version of the firmware
and the second part indicates a functional upgrade. The third part indicates minor revisions and
the fourth part minor bug fixes.
The iTC contains non-volatile flash-memory, so it retains its configuration when electrical power
is removed.
The basic iTC includes a single input channel for one temperature sensor and a single 80 W
heater output. The MercuryiTC can detect short-circuit inputs, open-circuit inputs, and inputs
that are shorted to ground. For instance, the heater output is disabled if a faulty sensor is
detected.
The MercuryiTC can accommodate up to eight optional daughter boards to allow additional
features to be added, as follows:
Board description Options
Temperature sensor boards 8 more, giving a total of 9 inputs
Heater boards (80W each) 3 more, giving a total of 4 outputs
Auxiliary board (general purpose and stepper motors) Up to 8
Pressure sensor boards Up to 8
Cryogen (helium and nitrogen) level meter board Up to 8
GPIB board 1 only
To Next Page
Loading...
Need help?
General