Micro-Kelvin Resolution at Room Temperature Using Nanomechanical Thermometry

Abstract

Ultrahigh sensitivity temperature measurement is becoming increasingly relevant for different scientific and technological fields from fundamental physics to high-precision engineering applications. Here, we demonstrate the use of a nanomechanical resonator - free standing silicon nitride membranes with thicknesses in the nanoscale - for room temperature thermometry reaching an unprecedented resolution of 15 μK. These devices were characterized by using an interferometric system at high vacuum, where there are only two possible mechanisms for heat transfer: thermal conductivity and radiation. While the expected behavior should be to decrease the frequency of the mechanical resonance due to the thermoelastic effect, we observe that the nanomechanical response can be both positive and negative depending on the thermal flux: a heat point source always shifts the mechanical resonance to lower frequencies, while a distributed heat source shifts the resonance to higher frequencies.