One- and two-dimensional tunnel junction arrays in weak Coulomb blockade regime: Absolute accuracy in thermometry

Abstract

We have investigated one- and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) arrays of tunnel junctions with various sizes and geometries in a partial Coulomb blockade regime. To interpret the observed data, we have utilized the phase correlation theory. We demonstrate, both by experiment and by theoretical calculations in simple geometries that, due to the weaker effect of the electromagnetic environment in 1D arrays, such structures are better than their 2D counterparts for Coulomb blockade thermometry. Yet in both 1D and 2D, the influence of the environment can be made arbitrarily small by making the array sufficiently large.