Apparatus for high-resolution microwave spectroscopy in strong magnetic fields

We have developed a low-temperature, high-resolution microwave surface-impedance probe that uses cavity perturbation of dielectric resonators and is able to operate in high static magnetic field. This method has sufficient sensitivity to resolve the microwave absorption of submillimeter-sized superconducting samples. The resonators are constructed from high-permittivity single-crystal rutile (TiO2) and have quality factors in excess of 10(6). Resonators with such high performance have traditionally required the use of superconducting materials, making them incompatible with large magnetic fields and subject to problems associated with aging and power-dependent response. Rutile resonators avoid these problems while retaining comparable sensitivity to surface impedance. Our cylindrical rutile resonators have a hollow bore and are excited in TE01(n-delta) modes, providing homogeneous microwave fields at the center of the resonator where the sample is positioned. Using a sapphire hot-finger technique, measurements can be made at sample temperatures in the range of 1.1-200 K, while the probe itself remains immersed in a liquid-helium bath at 4.2 K. The novel apparatus described in this article is an extremely robust and versatile system for microwave spectroscopy, integrating several important features into a single system. These include operation at high magnetic fields, multiple measurement frequencies between 2.64 and 14.0 GHz in a single resonator, excellent frequency stability, with typical drifts < 1 Hz/h, the ability to withdraw the sample from the resonator for background calibration, and a small pot of liquid helium separated from the external bath that provides a sample base temperature of 1.1 K. Without modification, this system can be employed for dielectric spectroscopy, electron-spin resonance, and other microwave spectroscopies. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.