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Applied Physics Letters / Volume 102 / Issue 8 / SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERCONDUCTING ELECTRONICS

Appl. Phys. Lett. 102, 082601 (2013); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4793515 (4 pages)

Macroscale refrigeration by nanoscale electron transport

Peter J. Lowell, Galen C. O'Neil, Jason M. Underwood, and Joel N. Ullom

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA

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(Received 23 January 2013; accepted 12 February 2013; published online 26 February 2013)

We demonstrate a general-purpose solid-state refrigerator for sub-Kelvin temperatures based on the tunneling of hot electrons through normal-metal/insulator/superconductor (NIS) junctions. Previous devices using this cooling principle fell short of general-purpose refrigerators since they could not be coupled to arbitrary payloads. To create a viable refrigerator, we developed optimized NIS structures and techniques to couple multiple such structures to arbitrary objects. Using three linked NIS devices, we reduced the temperature of a 1.9 cm3 copper stage from 290 mK to 256 mK with 700 pW of cooling power at 290 mK. We present plans to achieve base temperatures near 100 mK.

© 2013 U.S. Government

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KEYWORDS, PACS, and IPC

Keywords

electron transport theory, hot carriers, refrigeration, superconductor-normal-superconductor devices, tunnelling

PACS

  • 74.50.+r

    Tunneling phenomena; Josephson effects

  • 72.20.Ht

    High-field and nonlinear effects

  • 73.40.Gk

    Tunneling

  • 74.45.+c

    Proximity effects; Andreev reflection; SN and SNS junctions

International Patent Classification (IPC)

  • F25B

    Refrigeration machines, plants, or systems; Combined heating and refrigeration systems; Heat pump systems

ARTICLE DATA

Digital Object Identifier
http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4793515

PUBLICATION DATA

ISSN

0003-6951 (print)  
1077-3118 (online)

Publisher

$abstract.society.value is a Member of CrossRef U.S. Government

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    References

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Figures (4)

Figures (click on thumbnails to view enlargements)

FIG.1
Energy level diagram of normal-insulator-superconductor tunnel junction. Occupied states are shaded red in the two electrodes, and unoccupied states are shaded green. When the junction is properly biased, only the most energetic electrons in the normal metal can tunnel into the superconductor. This tunneling cools the normal metal.

FIG.1 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.2
(a) Micrograph of a 370 nm thick membrane cooled by NIS junctions. The membrane is supported by eight 20 μm wide and 60 μm long legs, each of which is cooled by a pair of 7 μm × 32 μm NIS junctions. Inset: enlarged view of a pair of NIS refrigerator junctions. (b) Cross-sectional device schematic showing critical nanoscale dimensions. Heat is transferred from the membrane to the superconductor, as shown by the red line. The 500 nm layer of AlMn on top of the NIS junction is a quasiparticle trap. For additional information about this trap, see Ref. 23.

FIG.2 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.3
Photograph of NIS refrigerator. The cold stage is the central 2.5 cm × 2.5 cm × 0.3 cm copper block suspended by four Kevlar cords. The cold stage is refrigerated by NIS junctions on a Si chip (outlined) on the 300 mK platform. The stage temperature is measured using a macroscopic RuOx thermometer. A Cu fin extends from the stage into the jaw of the heat switch. Inset: enlarged view of Au wirebonds that connect three junction-cooled membranes to the Cu stage. The cooling junctions total area, 1 × 10−8 m2, is too small to be seen even in the inset.

FIG.3 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint

FIG.4
Measured temperature of the suspended Cu stage plotted versus time in hours. The solid blue line is the stage temperature, and the dashed red line is the base temperature of the surrounding cryostat. The refrigerating junctions are turned on at hour one, indicated by the first vertical dashed line. After about 18 h, the junctions are turned off, indicated by the second vertical dashed line. The maximum temperature reduction of the stage is 34 mK. Small increases in the stage temperature near 10 and 20 h are due to vibrations from the liquid nitrogen-fill system of the cryostat.

FIG.4 Download High Resolution Image (.zip file) | Export Figure to PowerPoint



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