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Noise thermometers for low temperatures

Noise thermometry is one of few established approaches to primary thermometry. It is based on the direct relationship between the thermal noise, typically referred to as Nyquist or Johnson noise, generated by the thermally agitated motion of electric charges in a conductor and the thermodynamic temperature of that conductor. We are developing two types of SQUID-based noise thermometers for the temperature range  <10 mK to 4.2 K: current sensing noise thermometers (CSNTs) and magnetic field fluctuation thermometers (MFFTs). In our CSNT, the thermal current noise of an integrated resistor is directly measured using a SQUID current sensor. The MFFT is based on the measurement of the magnetic field fluctuations above the surface of a comparably large  (~1 cm3 ) metallic body. The MFFT-1 has been developed together with Magnicon GmbH. It is particularly suitable for the application in dilution refrigerators.