A low-cost cryogenic temperature measurement system using Arduino microcontroller

Abstract

We developed a simple, flexible, low-cost, and computer-controlled cryogenic temperature measurement system for undergraduate instructional laboratories. An Arduino microcontroller board measures the voltage across a silicon diode to calculate its temperature. Resistors and a voltage regulator provide constant current into the silicon diode. We present a graphical user interface based on the open-source Processing language. The cost of the complete temperature measurement system is thus only a small fraction of any highly-developed commercial system. Our performance test shows that the system works at a reasonable accuracy from 297.15 K (typical room temperature) down to 77 K (liquid nitrogen temperature).