Novocontrol Technologies offers an advanced solution for theelectric/dielectric characterization of materials in a single
materials analysis system. The central idea is modularity: amainframe ALPHA­A analyzer is always combined with a test
interface to form a measurement solution.
By variation of the test interface, the system provides instantaccess to all essential characterization methods, like, e.g.,dielectric/impedance or conductivity spectroscopy, high voltage
engineering, non­linear spectroscopy, electrochemical
impedance spectroscopy, frequency response analysis.
Switching to another method is done in less than a minute, simply
by exchanging interfaces. Access to a new method is thus aseasy as adding an additional test interface.
The combination of all your experiments in a single materials
analysis system yields substantial gains in usability, accuracy andflexibility with significant cost savings. In addition, these systems
offer a unique combination of wide frequency range (13.1decades), ultra­wide impedance range (up to 18 decades) andextremely high loss factor resolution in a single unit.
This easy­to­use system, suitable for a virtually unlimited numberof applications on the same platform, offers superior functionality
and flexibility, increased throughput and improved results.

Novocontrol Technologies
GmbH & Co. KG
Aubachstr. 156410 Montabaur
Germany
Phone: +49 2602 9196690
Fax:+49 2602 91966933
e­mail: novo@novocontrol.de
web: http://www.novocontrol.de

Alpha­A

Advanced Frequency
Response Analyzer For Smart
Measurement Applications

NOVOCONTROL

Alpha­AUltra­High Bandwidth

Noise Rejection

Due to its extremely wide frequency range, theALPHA­A is ideally suited to analyze both slow
and fast relaxation and charge transportphenomena in materials. The DC resistance of amaterial, e.g., is usually extracted from the low
frequency data, while molecular relaxations withrelaxation times in the nanosecond regime
require high frequency measurements.
Glasses or polymers frequently show multiple
relaxations which typically differ in theirrelaxation times; others, like, e.g., ceramic
conductors exhibit frequency­dependentfeatures due to contributions of bulk, grainboundary, and electrode effects which may
only be separated if a rather wide frequency
range is monitored. Coverage of a broadfrequency bandwidth is thus a crucial feature ofinstruments used for the characterization of suchphenomena.
In a single instrument, the ALPHA­A covers
frequencies from 3 µHz up to 40 MHz (Alpha­ATversion) with an unlimited number of frequency
points per sweep.

The ALPHA­A performs highly accurate digitalcorrelation of amplitude and phase variation ofboth the excitation and response signals toachieve highly effective noise rejection.

Ultra­Wide Impedance Range
For impedance measurements, the ALPHA­Amainframe is always connected to one of its test
interfaces. The combination of an ALPHA­A
frequency response analyzer and its test
interfaces offers a unique measurement solution
which covers up to eighteen decades ofimpedance. With our standard interfaces, e.g.,values between 10 mΩ and 100 TΩ aredetermined continuously, i.e., without changing
the setup.
The ALPHA­A based systems are thus capable tofully characterize a wide range of materials
spreading from insulators to metallic conductors.

Ultra­High Phase Resolution
Electrical impedance measurements onmaterials analyze the property to store andtransfer electrical charge.
These properties are expressed, and analyzed,e.g., in terms of the permittivity or conductivity ofa material. In the complex representation ofpermittivity, δ denotes the phase angle between
its imaginary and real parts, and tan δ represents
dielectric loss.
When it comes to low­loss materials, the crucial
property of a frequency response analyzer is its
phase resolution. In this respect, the ALPHA­A
offers unsurpassed performance, i.e., a very highphase resolution of less than 0.001°, equivalent
to a tan δ resolution of 10­5.

Harmonics AnalysisIn general, the electrical behavior of materials isexpected to be linear. Some materials,
however, exhibit an intrinsic non­linear behavior
or are deliberately made non­linear for certain
purposes or applications. The ALPHA­A analyzes
higher harmonics of such materials by complex
Fourier transformation. This opens the way to a
new range of experiments, known as non­linear
spectroscopy.

Auto Configuration
One key advantage of the modular system
based on the ALPHA­A mainframe is the large
variety of available test interfaces, each serving
a particular measurement application.
Upon connecting to the ALPHA­A, test interfaces
are automatically identified and their latest
calibration data restored. It is thus not evennecessary to recalibrate the system whenswitching test interfaces.
To the outside world, the ALPHA­A and its
attached test interface form a single unit. This
unique feature ensures a minimum ofconfiguration effort when changing from one
application to another.

Common Software Platform
DETACHEM is the complete Windows­based
software toolkit to control a comprehensive
range of measuring techniques. It comprises
online graphics and post­analysis in variousformats with overlays of measurement results forcomparative studies.
Presetting facilities allow pre­programmed test
sequences which run without user intervention.
System control, test interface calibration, dataacquisition and documentation areautomatically carried out by this software
package.

Data Transfer
The alphanumeric display of the ALPHA­A shows
all relevant measurement data such as
initialization, calibration, measurement running,frequency, voltage, sample capacitance,
sample resistance and tan δ. Simultaneously, allmeasurement data are transferred to acomputer via the GPIB (IEEE 488) bus.