Low temperature electronics
This wiki page is dedicated to electronics that has to be used at extremely low temperatures.
Reference material
- Extreme-temperature electronics - ETE, Randall Kirschman, Ph.D.
-
Cryogenic applications of commercial electronic
components,
E. Buchanan et al.
- Descibes a range of techniques useful for constructing analog and digital circuits for operation in a liquid Helium environment (4.2 K), using commercially available low power components.
-
Measurement of mechanical properties of electronic materials at
temperatures down to 4.2
K,
M. Fink et al.
- The mechanical properties of electronic materials at cryogenic temperatures down to liquid helium temperature were analysed. Specifically the tensile properties of solders , PC boards, conformal coatings as well as OFE Cu were characterised at room temperature, at liquid nitrogen and at liquid helium temperature by tensile tests.
-
Development of Ultra Low-Temperature Electronics for the AEgIS
Experiment,
Th. Kaltenbacher, 2013
- Dissertation Thesis
- Cryogenic Readout Electronics Systems for Liquid Argon TPCs in Neutrino Experiments, (09/2020)
Practical tips
Tips from Nikolai Beev/CERN
I've built cryogenic amplifiers working in liquid helium, and also SQUID readout setups operating at even lower cryogenic temperatures in dilution refrigerators (down to <100 mK).
So here's a quick list of what works and what doesn't:
- Bipolar Si transistors and diodes don't work.
- Shottky diodes usually work, their forward voltage drop increases
- LEDs work, also with increased Vf and brightness
- Most signal MOSFETs work. Many CMOS ICs work as well, including digital logic and a few op amps
- Some SiGe transistors work and even become better (lower noise, higher gain and bandwidth). But they are difficult to tame and prone to oscillations in the GHz frequencies.
- Small signal relays usually work. I've used plenty of latching Omron relays for switching things in the cold.
- Thin film resistors with tempco of 25 ppm/K or lower work fine. Thick-film resistors made of RuO2 go up in resistance and can be used for thermometry.
- From the ceramic capacitors, only NP0 don't freeze out. Forget about high-value X7R and the kind.
- Plastic capacitors usually work fine. Panasonic ECPU are a good SMD series with PPS dielectric - others should be fine too (PET or PP).
- Forget about electrolytic capacitors. Only Niobium ones work somehow, but poorly.
- Most ferromagnetic materials freeze out. Some Vitrovac tape-wound cores don't. Interestingly, circulators work too, though no one knows exactly what kind of ferrite material they use (-:
- Standard FR4 PCB material works fine.
- Tin/lead solder works fine, but lead-free solder likely also will work.
Contact: Nikolai.Beev@cern.ch
Tips from Stephane Franck Rey/CERN
I've used some analog multiplexers TC74HC4051 down to 1.7K without any
problem. However the switch resistance was much below the min value from
the datasheet of course, which was a benefit for my application.
The multiplexers had X7R bypass capacitors, PCB was standard FR4,
soldering made with a small reflow oven in my lab. Everything went
perfectly. However, do not expect to guaranty reliability without doing
a proper qualification. A single board which survives may be just a bit
of luck...
Contact: Stephane.Franck.Rey@cern.ch
Tips from Daniel Calcoen/CERN
- low temperature electronics - ideas - CERN only
- components at low temperature - test set up - CERN only
Contact: Daniel.Calcoen@cern.ch
Courses
26 March 2024