Calorimeters for precision power dissipation measurements on controlled-temperature superconducting radiofrequency samples

Two calorimeters, with stainless steel and Cu as the thermal path material for high precision and high power versions, respectively, have been designed and commissioned for the 7.5 GHz surface impedance characterization system at Jefferson Lab to provide low temperature control and measurement for CW power up to 22 W on a 5 cm diameter disk sample which is thermally isolated from the radiofrequency (RF) portion of the system. A power compensation method has been developed to measure the RF induced power on the sample. Simulation and experimental results show that with these two calorimeters, the whole thermal range of interest for superconducting radiofrequency materials has been covered. The power measurement error in the interested power range is within 1.2% and 2.7% for the high precision and high power versions, respectively. Temperature distributions on the sample surface for both versions have been simulated and the accuracy of sample temperature measurements have been analyzed. Both versions have the ability to accept bulk superconductors and thin film superconducting samples with a variety of substrate materials such as Al, Al(2)O(3), Cu, MgO, Nb, and Si.