Matter and methods at low temperatures

467 Pages·2007·6.6 MB·English

by  Frank Pobell

Matter and Methods at Low Temperatures
Frank Pobell
Matter and Methods
at Low Temperatures
Third,Revised and Expanded Edition
With234Figures,28Tables,and81 Problems
123
ProfessorDr.FrankPobell
Robert-Diez-Strasse1
D-01326Dresden
Germany
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Preface to the Third Edition
Successofaproductisdeterminedbythemarket.Iamthereforeverypleased
that the first two editions of this book have been sold out, and that the
publisherhasaskedmetoworkonathird,revisedandexpandededition.Ob-
viously,thereisstilldemandfor“MatterandMethodsatLowTemperatures”,
even almost 15 years after publication of the first edition.
Before working on this revision, I had written to more than 20 expert
colleagues to ask for their recommendations for revisions. Besides details, the
essence of their response was the following (1) Essentially, leave as it is; (2)
AddmoreinformationonpropertiesofmaterialsatT >1K;(3)Addinforma-
tion on suppliers of low-temperature equipment. Besides following the latter
tworecommendations,Ihave,ofcourse,takenintoaccountallrelevantnewin-
formationandnewdevelopmentsthathavebecomeavailablesincethesecond
edition was written more than 10 years ago, in 1995. I have found this infor-
mation in particular in the journals “Journal of Low Temperature Physics”,
“Review of Scientific Instruments”, and “Cryogenics”, as well as in the Pro-
ceedingsoftheInternationalConferencesonLowTemperaturePhysics,which
tookplaceinPrague(1996),Helsinki(1999),Hiroshima(2002),andOrlando,
FL(2005),aswellasoftheInternationalSymposiumonQuantumFluidsand
Solids, which took place in Ithaca, NY (1995), Paris (1997), Amherst, MA
(1998), Minneapolis, MN (2000), Konstanz (2001), Albuquerque, NM (2003),
and Trento (2004); the latter proceedings have also been published as issues
of the Journal of Low Temperature Physics.
I have included new chapters or sections on:
– Closed-cycle refrigerators
– Methods to measure heat capacity, thermal expansion, and thermal con-
ductivity
– Magneticpropertiesofsomeselectedmaterials(replacingtheformershort
appendix) and methods to measure them
– The new temperature scale PLTS – 2000 (replacing the former section
onthepreliminaryscaleCTS-2)andthenewsuperconductingfixed-point
device SRD 1000
VI Preface
– Oxide compound resistance thermometers
– Coulomb blockade thermometry
– Torsional and translational oscillators
– Low-temperature electronics, in particular SQUIDs (mostly a summary
on the relevant literature)
– As well as a list of commercial suppliers of cryogenic equipment and
materials needed for low-temperature research.
Furthermore, I have strongly revised or expanded the sections on dilu-
tion refrigeration, pressure transducers, cold valves, small superconducting
and normal conducting magnets, on thermometry, in particular resistance,
paramagnetic and NMR thermometry, as well as electronic microrefrigera-
tors. The new edition also contains more data on properties of materials at
low temperatures.
There are still further domains of increasing importance in low-
temperatureresearchandtechnologythatIcouldhaveincluded.Forexample,
the exciting developments on magneto-optically trapped and laser as well as
evaporatively cooled highly diluted gases and their Bose–Einstein condensa-
tion(however,thebookstillisoncondensed-matterphysicsonly);application
of low-temperature technology in space research and for particle detection;
low-temperature research in very high magnetic fields (partly covered in the
sections on calorimetry and on thermometry); or the developments of various
scanning tunneling microscopes for applications at low temperatures. These
developments show the increasing importance of low temperatures in fields
outside of the formerly traditional low-temperature research. However, in-
cluding them would have surely made this a too voluminous book. It already
contains 45 new figures and about 250 additional references compared to the
second edition!
I am grateful to A. Bianchi, G. Eska, P. Esquinazi, J. Pekola, R. Rosen-
baum, K. Uhlig, A.T.A.M. de Waele, as well as W. Buck and his colleagues
at the PTB Berlin for reading and commenting on various parts of my man-
uscript. Last but not least, it is a pleasure for me to acknowledge my close
collaborationwithThomasHerrmannsdo¨rferforaboutoneandahalfdecades,
whichhassurelycontributedtomyunderstandingandappreciationofseveral
areas covered in this book.
Dresden
August 2006 F. Pobell
Preface to the Second Edition
It has been a great pleasure for me to see this book – very often several
copies–inalmosteverylow-temperaturelaboratoryIhavevisitedduringthe
past three years.
Low-andultralow-temperaturephysicscontinuetobelivelyandprogress-
ing fields of research. New results have emerged over the four years since
publicationofthefirsteditionofmymonograph.Thesecondeditioncontains
relevantresultsparticularlyonthermometryandmaterialsproperties,aswell
as many additional references. Of course, typographical errors I had over-
looked are now corrected. I am grateful to J. Friebel for checking and solving
the problems I have included in this new edition. And, as for the case of the
first edition, I again thank H. Lotsch for the very careful editing.
I hope that this lower-priced paperback edition will continue to be a valu-
able source for the research and study of many of my colleagues and their
students.
Bayreuth
November 1995 F. Pobell
Preface to the First Edition
Theaimofthisbookistoprovideinformationaboutperformingexperiments
at low temperatures, as well as basic facts concerning the low-temperature
properties of liquid and solid matter. To orient the reader, I begin with chap-
ters on these low-temperature properties. The major part of the book is then
devoted to refrigeration techniques and to the physics on which they are
based. Of equal importance, of course, are the definition and measurement
of temperature; hence low-temperature thermometry is extensively discussed
insubsequentchapters.Finally,Idescribeavarietyofdesignandconstruction
techniques which have turned out to be useful over the years.
Thecontentofthebookisbasedonthethree-hour-per-weeklecturecourse
which I have given several times at the University of Bayreuth between 1983
and 1991. It should be particularly suited for advanced students whose in-
tended masters (diploma) or Ph.D. subject is experimental condensed matter
physics at low temperatures. However, I believe that the book will also be of
value to experienced scientists, since it describes several very recent advances
in experimental low-temperature physics and technology, for example, new
developments in nuclear refrigeration and thermometry.
My knowledge and appreciation of low-temperature physics have been
strongly influenced and enhanced over the years by many colleagues. In
particular, I wish to express my thanks to my colleagues and coworkers
at the Institut fu¨r Festko¨rperforschung, Forschungszentrum Ju¨lich and at
the Physikalisches Institut, Universita¨t Bayreuth. Their enthusiasm for low-
temperature physics has been essential for the work in our groups, and for
many achievements described in this book. Among them I wish to men-
tion especially R.M. Mueller, Ch. Buchal and M. Kubota from the time at
Ju¨lich (1975–1983), K. Gloos, R. Ko¨nig, B. Schro¨der-Smeibidl, P. Smeibidl,
P. Sekowski, and E. Syskakis in Bayreuth (since 1983).
Above all, I am deeply indebted to my colleague and friend Girgl Eska,
who shares with me all the joys and sorrows of our low-temperature work in
Bayreuth. He and Bob Mueller read the entire manuscript and made many
importantcommentsonit.IamalsoverygratefultoDierkRainerforsooften
X Preface
sharing with me his deep insight into the physics of many low-temperature
phenomena.
It is a pleasure for me to thank Mrs. G. Pinzer for her perfect typing
of the manuscript and Ms. D. Hollis for her careful copy-editing. Likewise,
I gratefully acknowledge the very thorough and time-consuming checking of
the whole manuscript by Dr. H. Lotsch.
Finally, I thank the Institute for Physical Problems, USSR Academy
of Sciences, where part of the manuscript was written, for the hospitality
extendedtome,andthe“VolkswagenStiftung”forastipendwhichIheldfor
some time while writing this book.
Bayreuth
September 1991 F. Pobell
Contents
1 Introduction ............................................... 1
2 Properties of Cryoliquids................................... 7
2.1 Liquid Air, Liquid Oxygen, Liquid Nitrogen ................ 7
2.2 Liquid Hydrogen........................................ 8
2.3 Liquid Helium.......................................... 13
2.3.1 Some Properties of the Helium Isotopes ............ 13
2.3.2 Latent Heat of Evaporation and Vapour Pressure .... 17
2.3.3 Specific Heat.................................... 20
2.3.4 Transport Properties of Liquid 4He:
Thermal Conductivity and Viscosity ............... 23
2.3.5 Superfluid Film Flow............................. 25
2.3.6 Liquid 3He and 3He–4He Mixtures
at Millikelvin Temperatures ....................... 27
Problems.................................................... 32
3 Solid Matter at Low Temperatures......................... 33
3.1 Specific Heat ........................................... 34
3.1.1 Insulators....................................... 34
3.1.2 Metals ......................................... 38
3.1.3 Superconducting Metals .......................... 40
3.1.4 Non-Crystalline Solids............................ 42
3.1.5 Magnetic Specific Heat ........................... 44
3.1.6 The Low-Temperature Specific Heat of Copper
and Platinum ................................... 47
3.1.7 Specific Heat of Some Selected Materials............ 47
3.1.8 Calorimetry or How to Measure Heat Capacities..... 50
3.2 Thermal Expansion ..................................... 58
3.2.1 Thermal Expansion of Solids ...................... 58
3.2.2 Dilatometers or How to Measure
Thermal Expansions ............................. 61
XII Contents
3.3 Thermal Conductivity ................................... 62
3.3.1 Lattice Conductivity: Phonons .................... 63
3.3.2 Electronic Thermal Conductivity .................. 67
3.3.3 Thermal Conductivity at Low Temperatures ........ 70
3.3.4 Superconducting Metals .......................... 71
3.3.5 Relation Between Thermal and Electrical
Conductivity: The Wiedemann–Franz Law .......... 72
3.3.6 Influence of Impurities on Conductivity............. 74
3.3.7 Thermal Conductivities of Copper, Silver
and Aluminum at Low Temperatures............... 77
3.3.8 How to Measure Thermal Conductivities............ 79
3.4 Magnetic Susceptibilities................................. 81
3.4.1 Magnetic Susceptibilities of Some Selected
Materials ....................................... 81
3.4.2 How to Measure Susceptibilities
and Magnetizations .............................. 84
Problems.................................................... 92
4 Thermal Contact and Thermal Isolation ................... 95
4.1 Selection of the Material with the Appropriate Cryogenic
Thermal Conductivity ................................... 95
4.2 Heat Switches .......................................... 97
4.2.1 Gaseous and Mechanical Heat Switches............. 97
4.2.2 Superconducting Heat Switches.................... 98
4.3 Thermal Boundary Resistance............................102
4.3.1 Boundary Resistance Between Metals ..............102
4.3.2 Boundary Resistance Between Liquid Helium
and Solids ......................................105
Problems....................................................113
5 Helium-4 Cryostats and Closed-Cycle Refrigerators ........115
5.1 Use of Liquid 4He in Low-Temperature Equipment ..........116
5.1.1 Cool-Down Period ...............................116
5.1.2 Running Phase of the Experiment .................117
5.2 Helium-4 Cryostats .....................................120
5.2.1 Double-Walled Glass Dewars ......................121
5.2.2 Metal Dewars ...................................123
5.2.3 Cryostats for T >5K ............................124
5.2.4 Cryostats with Variable Temperature for
1.3K≤T ≤4.2K................................125
5.2.5 Auxiliary Equipment.............................130
5.3 Closed-Cycle Refrigerators ...............................133
5.4 Temperature Control....................................136
Problems....................................................137