Measuring How Materials Store, Resist, and Respond to Electrical Energy: The LCR Meter at MNRDC, Parul University That Tests From 1 mHz to 5 MHz and From Room Temperature to 1200C

No matter what, every material interacts with electrical energy at its own levels. Some store it, some resist it, and some oppose changes in it at all levels. Learning and understanding these properties at different frequencies & temperatures is a fundamental factor in electronics manufacturing. The MNRDC department of Parul University operates the ZM2376 Scanning LCR Meter from NF Corporation in Japan to measure the complete behaviour of solid materials from 1 mHz to 5 MHz and at the room temperature of 1200C. This instrument has analysed more than 61 samples to date, with the exclusive inclusion of calcium titanate, carbon, ceramics, dielectrics, zinc and polymers.

Read more about – MNRDC facilities overview

Basic Parameters

• Resistance (R): opposition to current flow, caused by electron collisions within the material
• Capacitance (C): ability to store electrical charge (temporary energy storage)
• Inductance (L): opposition to change in current through magnetic field generation
• Impedance (Z): total opposition in AC circuits (combination of resistance and reactance)
• Conductance (G): ease of current flow (real part of admittance)
• Admittance (Y): inverse of impedance
• DC Resistance (Rdc): pure resistance under direct current

Advanced Parameters

• Phase Angle: relationship between voltage and current waveforms
• Quality Factor (Q): how efficiently an element stores energy vs dissipating it
• Dissipation Factor (D): how much energy is lost as heat
• Reactance (X): frequency-dependent opposition to current
• Susceptance (B): imaginary part of admittance
• Series and Parallel Resistances (Rs, Rp): component modelling parameters

Read more about – Advanced material characterisation lab

The LCR meter sends a small AC signal into the sample and watches what comes back. The relationship it is working with is V = IZ. Voltage, current, impedance. Applied voltage goes in, current gets measured coming out, and impedance is what the instrument pulls from those two together.

But impedance alone is not the full picture. The meter also catches the phase difference between the voltage and the current, and that is where the real information sits. Phase difference is what separates resistive behaviour from reactive behaviour. R on one side, L and C on the other. Without that separation, you have a single number. With it you have a characterisation. Run the measurement at one frequency, and you see one thing. Change the frequency and something shifts. Sweeping across a range lets you pin down exactly what the material is doing and why, which is precision that a single-frequency measurement simply cannot give you.

Nothing about this harms the sample. The AC signals are low amplitude. No heat builds up, no structural damage, no chemistry changes, no surface preparation needed before the measurement. The sample goes in exactly as it is and comes out the same way. The samples are completely reusable after testing.

Read more about – XRD vs SEM vs AFM comparison

The ZM2376’s strongest feature is its ability to perform a complete frequency sweep in a single run. Instead of measuring at one fixed frequency, it scans continuously from the lowest to the highest set frequency, revealing how R, C, L, Z, Q, D, and Y change across the entire range. This provides:

• Complete dielectric characterisation in one measurement
• Deeper material insight than single-frequency testing
• Publication-quality data showing full frequency-dependent behaviour
• Up to four parameters displayed simultaneously on the output graph, each in a different colour

Graph interpretation: a flat line indicates pure resistor behaviour. A downward curve indicates capacitive behaviour. An upward curve indicates inductive behaviour. A peak or dip indicates a resonance condition. Unlike the sharp diffraction peaks seen in XRD, LCR graphs are smooth curves.

The LCR meter can test samples at room temperature (up to 500C for the meter alone) or combined with an integrated furnace that reaches 1200C. The furnace uses gold-plated electrodes, which provide improved electrical contact, reduced contact resistance, higher accuracy, and minimal measurement error at extreme temperatures. This enables combined temperature-frequency-dependent electrical analysis: how a material’s dielectric behaviour changes as it heats up, which is critical for industrial material evaluation.

Of the 61 samples analysed at MNRDC, 12 were tested at furnace temperatures and 49 at room temperature. Practical lab testing is often conducted in two specific frequency bands: 20 Hz to 1000 Hz and 10,000 Hz to 20,000 Hz.

• Strictly hard solid materials only. No liquid samples.
• Powders must be converted into pellets before testing
• Approximate sample diameter: 10 to 20 mm
• Samples tested at MNRDC include: calcium titanate, carbon, ceramics, dielectrics, zinc, polymers
• No special surface preparation or coating required (non-destructive testing)

• Step 1: Power on the LCR meter and connect the computer/software
• Step 2: Calibration (open, short, load) to eliminate cable and environmental errors
• Step 3: Connect calibrated cables to sample holder or furnace. Place sample securely.
• Step 4: Select measurement mode (R-X, Z-theta, C-D, L-Q) and Range/Sweep Mode
• Step 5: Enter test parameters: frequency range, test voltage, measurement speed
• Step 6: Instrument applies AC signals from lowest to highest frequency. At each point: voltage and current measured, impedance calculated, parameters separated
• Step 7: Graph displayed with frequency on the X-axis and selected parameter on the Y-axis. Up to four parameters simultaneously.
• Step 8: Data interpretation. Exact numerical values obtained by selecting points on the graph.

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• Electronics manufacturing: component testing, quality assurance
• Battery and energy systems: electrode characterisation, dielectric analysis
• Ceramics and advanced materials: permittivity and loss tangent measurement
• Medical equipment validation: impedance testing of biomedical components
• Automotive and telecommunications: frequency-dependent material behaviour
• Research and development: publication-quality dielectric characterisation

The LCR meter completes the electrical characterisation capability that the other MNRDC instruments cannot provide:

• SEM: shows surface morphology and microstructure
• XRD: reveals crystal structure and phase identification
• AFM: measures nanoscale surface roughness
• Pin-on-Disc: evaluates wear resistance and durability
• Sputtering (Auto 500): deposits thin films
• LCR Meter: measures the electrical properties of all of the above

A researcher at MNRDC can fabricate a thin film on the Auto 500, examine its surface on SEM, measure its crystal structure on XRD, check its roughness on AFM, and then measure its dielectric properties on the LCR meter, all without leaving the building.

Thin Film Coating for Solar Cells & Semiconductors at MNRDC, Parul University!