techniques for approximating the international temperature ... - BIPM
techniques for approximating the international temperature ... - BIPM
techniques for approximating the international temperature ... - BIPM
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46<br />
Fig. 4.4: Differences between dc and ac (30 Hz) calibrations <strong>for</strong> typical germanium<br />
<strong>the</strong>rmometers from Minneapolis Honeywell (upper hatched group, 250 to 1250 Ω<br />
at 4.2 K), Lake Shore Cryotronics (lower hatched group, 500 Ω at 4.2 K), and<br />
CryoCal (dashed curve, 500 Ω at 4.2 K) [after Anderson and Swenson (1978)].<br />
4.3.2 Resistance/Temperature Characteristics and Sensitivity<br />
Typical examples of <strong>the</strong> variation of resistance (R) with T <strong>for</strong> commercial germanium<br />
<strong>the</strong>rmometers are shown in Fig. 4.5. The resistance at 1 K can be as high as 10 6 Ω and at<br />
100 K as low as 1 Ω, but <strong>the</strong>se are extreme values. For a typical <strong>the</strong>rmometer suited to <strong>the</strong><br />
<strong>temperature</strong> range 1 K to 30 K, R ranges from 1000 Ω at 4.2 K to less than 10 Ω at 77 K.<br />
The sensitivity (dR/dT) at 4.2 K is about -500 Ω K -1 .<br />
In practice <strong>the</strong> power dissipated in <strong>the</strong> sensor must be much less than 1 µW, corresponding<br />
to a maximum current of 30 µA with a 1000 Ω <strong>the</strong>rmometer, or a voltage across <strong>the</strong> sensor<br />
of 30 mV (see Section 4.4.1 and Fig. 4.8). In order to measure <strong>temperature</strong>s near 4 K to<br />
within 0.01 % (0.5 mK), that would require instrumentation having microvolt resolution. Even<br />
lower sensor voltages are desirable, 2 to 4 mV being usual. Commonly, a potentiometric<br />
method is used to measure <strong>the</strong> resistance because of <strong>the</strong> high resistances involved. At<br />
every <strong>temperature</strong> <strong>the</strong> current is adjusted to maintain <strong>the</strong> voltage across <strong>the</strong> potential<br />
terminals as high as compatible with self-heating. This allows one to take advantage of <strong>the</strong><br />
maximum sensitivity provided by <strong>the</strong> equipment. Where this procedure is inconvenient, a<br />
constant measuring voltage can be used over a wide range and correction made <strong>for</strong> self-<br />
heating (see Sec. 4.4.1).