Simple microcalorimeter for measuring microgram samples at low temperatures

An innovative microcalorimeter has been developed for measuring specific heat of very small microgram samples in the temperature range from 1.5 to 50 K and in magnetic fields up to 11 T. The device is built from a commercial sapphire temperature chip (Cernox), which is modified by means of standard microfabrication techniques and which is used as a sample holder, temperature sensor, and sample heater. Compared to existing microcalorimeters the simple design of our instrument allows a fabrication of the device in a few process steps by using facilities present in a standard laboratory clean room. As an illustrative example for the performance of our device, the specific heat of an underdoped ( La 1−x Sr x ) 2 CuO 4 and CaRuO 3 single crystal has been measured by means of the relaxation time method as well as the ac method.