Low temperatures suppress noise and make quantum phenomena accessible. As a result, cryogenics play a crucial role in precision measurements.
Micrograph showing thin-film payload (orange) cooled by four pairs of tunnel junctions located at each corner of the payload.
Almost all the devices developed by the Quantum Sensors Group work at temperatures below liquid helium (4 Kelvin at the elevation of Boulder Colorado). Sometimes, it is necessary to develop specialized cryogenics to test the devices, or to facilitate their dissemination to outside users. The Quantum Sensors Group designs and builds a wide range of refrigerators. Some of the refrigerators are macroscopic and others are thin film circuitry based on the quantum tunneling of electrons through thin insulating barriers.