Handbook
November 2011 / 59-UMC0071 / Issue 01
Mercury iTC
Page 19
OVERVIEW OF THE iTC
Original Instructions
2 OVERVIEW OF THE ITC
The Integrated Temperature Controller (iTC) is a high-performance laboratory
temperature-controller designed for use in cryogenic applications. The unit
accommodates up to eight optional daughter boards to allow additional features to be
added.
Most commonly the unit is used to control the temperature of a sample whose properties
are being investigated. The sample contains a sensor monitoring its temperature (see
Section 2.1.1), a method of cooling the sample to cryogenic temperatures, and an
optional heater for temperature control (see Section 2.1.2.). The iTC is usually
configured to control the application of heat to a cooling medium, as this method
provides better control than adjusting the refrigeration process. The unit 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 (software) contained in flash memory. The software version number is
indicated by a two-part number (e.g. 1.01). The first digit of this number indicates the
major version of the software, and the second two digits indicate minor revisions.
The basic iTC includes a single input channel for one temperature sensor. An additional
8 sensor inputs can be added (to a total of 9 inputs). The unit can detect short-circuit
inputs, open-circuit inputs, and inputs that are shorted to ground. The heater output is
disabled if a faulty sensor is detected.
The basic iTC includes a single 80 W heater output. An additional three 80 W heater
outputs can be added (to make a total of 4 outputs, each of 80 W).
An optional port can be added to drive a stepper motor. This is commonly used to
control the motorised valve in a continuous-flow cryostat, a variable-temperature insert,
or an AutoGFS transfer-syphon.
An optional board can be added to monitor and control the level of cryogen in a
reservoir. The additional board has inputs for helium-level and nitrogen-level probes.
The iTC contains non-volatile flash-memory, and it retains its configuration when
electrical power is removed.
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