THERMOMETRY BY ARRAYS OF TUNNEL-JUNCTIONS

We show that arrays of tunnel junctions between normal metal electrodes exhibit features suitable for primary thermometry in an experimentally adjustable temperature range where thermal and charging effects compete. I-V and dIdV vs V have been calculated for two junctions including a universal analytic high temperature result. Experimentally the width of the conductance minimum in this regime scales with T and N, the number of junctions, and its value (per junction) agrees with the calculated one to within 3% for large N. The height of this feature is inversely proportional to T. © 1994 The American Physical Society.