Development of uniaxial elongation method and its application to low dimensional conductors

We developed the uniaxial elongation method to elongate a soft crystalline sample along one desired direction. An epoxy rod which contains a sample passes through a stainless steel ring along its diameter and is fixed to the ring. The external force is applied to the ring along the direction perpendicular to the epoxy rod to deform the ring and elongate the epoxy rod, leading to the elongation of the sample in the rod. We verify this method by using a strain gauge instead of a sample. The results of resistance measurements of two kinds of quasi-one-dimensional conductors, NbSe ₃ and (TMTSF) ₂ClO ₄(TMTSF denotes tetramethyltetraselenafulvalene.), are also presented as the examples of this experimental technique.