Developing compact tuning fork thermometers for sub-mK temperatures and high magnetic fields

Abstract

There is a growing demand for experiments on calorimetric and thermal transport measurements at ultra-low temperatures below 1 mK and high magnetic fields up to 16 T. Particularly, milligram-sized solid samples are of great interest. We present the development of scalable thermometers based on quartz tuning fork resonators immersed in liquid 3He and adapt hydrodynamic models to provide an improved description of temperature dependence in the high viscosity regime between 1 and 10mK. We demonstrate successful thermometer operation and discuss the feasibility of fast and compact thermal probes suitable for small samples.