YBCO transition edge sensors used for very low noise thermal control

In electrically substituted radiometers, the ultra low noise control of the temperature is required. In this framework, we present results dedicated to the temperature regulation of copper plates, 3 cm diameter and 1 mm thick, using YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ (YBCO) transition edge sensors (TES). One of the TES was used as the active thermometer of the temperature control unit, whereas the two others measured the plate temperature behavior. Two heating resistors were wound along a spiral pattern, just underneath the copper plate, to minimize the heating delay. The correlation between the two TES was clearly highlighted by applying a small heat perturbation through the second distributed resistor, the path of which closely follows that of the main resistor. Calibrated temperature oscillations of 30 μK rms @ 10 mHz together with spectral analysis were measured and a temperature resolution in the range of a few μK rms was achieved.