Abstract
The design of systems for operation at cryogenic temperatures requires the use of material properties at these low temperatures. The properties at cryogenic temperatures can be much different than the room-temperature values. In addition, some properties can be strong functions of temperature. Property data at cryogenic temperatures are not easy to find. Many measurements were made at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and other laboratories about 50 years ago. Some of the results were published in reports that are now out of print, which makes the results unavailable to most researchers. To correct that problem, NIST initiated a program to critically evaluate cryogenic material properties and to curve fit the available data for temperatures in the range of about 4 K to 300 K. The parameters for the curve fit, as well as a graph of the curve, are available on the website
www.cryogenics.nist.gov. Click on Material Properties to find the list of materials. The properties available include thermal conductivity, specific heat, linear thermal expansion, thermal expansion coefficient, and Youngs modulus. Not all properties are available for all materials. The materials currently in the database are ones commonly used in the construction of cryogenic hardware.