A non-local cryogenic thermometer based on Coulomb-coupled systems

Abstract

We investigate a quadruple quantum dot setup that can be employed to sense the temperature of an electrically isolated remote target reservoir. Such a setup was conceived earlier by S\'anchez et. al. (New Journal of Physics, 19, 113040) as non-local thermodynamic engine and relies on the electrostatic interaction between Coulomb-coupled quantum dots. The conjugation of Coulomb-coupling and energy-filtering results in an overall change in conductance with remote reservoir temperature. The performance of the thermometer is then theoretically investigated using density matrix formulation, and it is demonstrated that the quadruple quantum dot design ensures a superior temperature sensitivity and noise robustness compared to a simple thermometer consisting of two Coulomb-coupled quantum dots. In the end, we investigate the regime of operation and comment on the ground state configuration for optimal performance of the thermometer. The setup investigated in this paper can be employed to construct highly efficient non-local cryogenic thermometers.