Abstract
We report measurements of the thermal conductance of a structure made from commercial Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) modules, known as LEGO® blocks, in the temperature range from 70 mK to 1.8 K. A power law for the sample’s thermal conductivity κ = (8.7 ± 0.3) × 10−5T 1.75±0.02 WK−1 m−1 was determined. We conclude that this ABS/void compound material provides better thermal isolation than well-known bulk insulator materials in the explored temperature range, whilst maintaining solid support. LEGO blocks represent a cheap and superlative alternative to materials such as Macor or Vespel. In our setup, <400 nW of power can heat an experimental area of 5 cm2 to over 1 K, without any significant change to the base temperature of the dilution refrigerator. This work suggests that custom-built modular materials with even better thermal performance could be readily and cheaply produced by 3D printing.
Highlights
We investigated a modular Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) structure comprising four standard LEGO blocks (Catalog No 3001) stacked vertically and mounted in a Lancaster-built 3He/4He dilution refrigerator[2]
Since commercially available LEGO blocks are molded with a precision of σx ≈ 10 μm[3], it is very easy to reproduce structures accurately
We have demonstrated that a modular Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) structure assembled from LEGO blocks can provide a very effective thermal insulator at millikelvin temperatures
Summary
A power law for the sample’s thermal conductivity κ = (8.7 ± 0.3) × 10−5 T 1.75±0.02 WK−1 m−1 was determined We conclude that this ABS/void compound material provides better thermal isolation than well-known bulk insulator materials in the explored temperature range, whilst maintaining solid support. Radiation shield spacers and support rods in dilution refrigerators are good examples of this These components are useful for all cryogenics but especially for the current progression of quantum computing, which relies on isolated low temperatures for operation and coherence. Certain plastic materials, such as Vespel, have reasonably low thermal conductivities[1], but large volumes can be costly. The results presented are characteristic of a modular ABS/void composite material constructed from typical LEGO elements
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