Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have recently invented a miniature thermometer that they believe will have important consequences for future technology applications.
According to a posting to the NIST website, the newly invented superconducting thermometer measures just 2.5 by 1.15 millimeters in size and is capable of measuring temperatures below 1 kelvin (minus 275.15 C or minus 457.87 F), down to 50 millikelvin (mK) and potentially 5mK.
NIST says that the miniature thermometer is smaller, faster, and more convenient than conventional cryogenic thermometers for chip-scale devices. Further, NIST envisions its use in monitoring the temperature of processor chips in superconductor-based quantum computers, which typically function at relatively low temperatures.
