New invention revolutionises heat transport



Artistic impression of quantum-limited heat conduction of photons over macroscopic distances. Credit: Heikka Valja.






Device structure and simplified measurement scheme. A superconducting meandering transmission line on a silicon chip is terminated at both ends by micron-sized resistors. A pair of tunnel junctions at each resistor is used to measure the temperatures of their conduction electrons. The temperature drop at the left resistor due to active cooling of the right resistor is used to extract the thermal conductance between the two resistors. This quantum-limited heat conduction arises from the exchange of microwave photons flying in the transmission line. Credit: Matti Partanen.

Important ideas








Atomic-force microscope image of one of the resistors in the device used to demonstrate quantum-limited heat conduction over macroscopic distances. Note that there are excess inactive copies of some of the structures owing to the employed fabrication methods. Credit: Matti Partanen.

New physics






Artistic impression of quantum-limited heat conduction of photons over macroscopic distances. Credit: Riikka Maria Partanen.


Research article:


"Quantum-limited heat conduction over macroscopic distances",

Nature Physics, DOI: 10.1038/nphys3642

Link to the article: