0000000000799110
AUTHOR
J. K. Suoknuuti
Trapping of quasiparticles of a nonequilibrium superconductor
We have performed experiments where hot electrons are extracted from a normal metal into a superconductor through a tunnel junction. We have measured the cooling performance of such NIS junctions, especially in the cases where another normal metal electrode, a quasiparticle trap, is attached to the superconductor at different distances from the junction in direct metal-to-metal contact or through an oxide barrier. The direct contact at a submicron distance allows superior thermalization of the superconductor. We have analyzed theoretically the heat transport in this system. From both experiment and theory, it appears that NIS junctions can be used as refrigerators at low temperatures only w…
Properties of the Phonon Gas in Ultrathin Membranes at Low Temperature
We analyze heat conduction by phonons in ultrathin membranes by constructing a new theoreticalframework which implies a crossover from a bulk three-dimensional phonon distribution into a quasi-two-dimensional distribution when the temperature is lowered. We calculate the corresponding changesin the relevant thermodynamic quantities. At the end we make a comparison to experimental data.[S0031-9007(98)07273-1]
Cooling of a superconductor by quasiparticle tunneling
We have extended the cryogenic cooling method based on tunneling between a superconductor and another metal to the case when both metals are superconducting but when their energy gaps are different; earlier, this method was applied between a superconductor and a normal metal. The electron system of a titanium strip with the superconducting transition temperature Tc2=0.51 K has been cooled from 1.02Tc2 to below 0.7Tc2 by this method, using aluminum as the other superconductor.
Microrefrigeration by quasiparticle tunnelling in NIS and SIS junctions
Abstract A solid-state refrigeration method at sub-kelvin temperatures has been developed. It is based on quasiparticle tunnelling between a superconductor and a normal metal, or, between two dissimilar superconducting metals. The refrigerator is fabricated by combining nanolithography and micromachining methods. This technique has been demonstrated in both electron cooling from 0.3 to 0.1 K and in refrigeration of a dielectric platform. We describe a new fabrication method of tunnel junctions in a shadow evaporation configuration using a mechanical mask of silicon nitride.
Influence of magnetic field on cooling by normal-insulator–superconductor junctions
Cooling by normal-insulator–superconductor junctions in external magnetic field has been studied experimentally. For all orientations of magnetic field the cooling performance correlates with the magnetic field dependent superconducting energy gap Δ(H). In perpendicular orientation of magnetic field with respect to the sample plane, additional degradation of the cooling power originates from scattering of nonequilibrium quasiparticles in the superconductor on magnetic vortices. The effect is hysteretic and its magnitude depends on the shape of the superconducting probes.