A fully automated four-probe d.c. conductivity technique for investigating solid electrolytes

A fully automated four-probe d.c. conductivity technique has been described for investigating the conductivity of solid electrolytes as a function of temperature and time. The technique is equally applicable to semiconducting and superconducting materials. With full automation, the time for data acquisition is very short and the reproducibility is high. Several uncertainties associated with manual recording of data are reduced. Some applications of the technique have been described. Various sources of error associated with collection of data have been considered and limitations and advantages of the techniques have been discussed.