Limitations in cooling electrons using normal-metal-superconductor tunnel junctions

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Volume Title

A1 Alkuperäisartikkeli tieteellisessä aikakauslehdessä

Date

2004-02-06

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Mcode

Degree programme

Language

en

Pages

4
1-4

Series

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS, Volume 92, issue 5

Abstract

We demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally two limiting factors in cooling electrons using biased tunnel junctions to extract heat from a normal metal into a superconductor. First, when the injection rate of electrons exceeds the internal relaxation rate in the metal to be cooled, the electrons do not obey the Fermi-Dirac distribution, and the concept of temperature cannot be applied as such. Second, at low bath temperatures, states within the gap induce anomalous heating and yield a theoretical limit of the achievable minimum temperature.

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Keywords

cooling electron, superconductor, tunnel junction

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Citation

Pekola , J , Heikkilä , T , Savin , A , Flyktman , J T , Giazotto , F & Hekking , F W J 2004 , ' Limitations in cooling electrons using normal-metal-superconductor tunnel junctions ' , Physical Review Letters , vol. 92 , no. 5 , 056804 , pp. 1-4 . https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.92.056804