Features of the Cryogenic Temperature Controller Development

Cryogenic temperature controllers are essential devices for all experiments that require precise temperature measurements and temperature stabilization of samples. This job often can't be simply offloaded to generic hardware such as a multimeter paired with a computer-controlled heater. Several world-known vendors (such as Lake Shore, Oxford Instruments, Omega, Stanford Research) produce such devices, often as a part of more complex experimental setup. But sometimes these devices require careful attention to fine details of the experiment, including temperature sensor itself. In our case automatic change of the resistive sensor excitation current during the basic experiment lead us to non-negligible measurement errors. Dealing with the sensor mode and conditions without interfering the main experiment is the job of the equipment, not the researcher. Several years ago we developed a temperature controller specifically for our measurements and in the present work we describe the key points of development a more universal and commercially ready device.