A team of researchers has discovered a way to cool electrons to -228 °C without external means and at room temperature, an advancement that could enable electronic devices to function with very little energy.
A chip, which contains nanoscale structures that enable electron cooling at room temperature, is pictured.
The process involves passing electrons through a quantum well to cool them and keep them from heating.
The team details its research in "Energy-filtered cold electron transport at room temperature," which is published in Nature Communications on Wednesday, Sept. 10.
"We are the first to effectively cool electrons at room temperature. Researchers have done electron cooling before, but only when the entire device is immersed into an extremely cold cooling bath," said Seong Jin Koh, an associate professor at UT Arlington in the Materials Science & Engineering Department, who has led the research. "Obtaining cold electrons at room temperature has enormous technical benefits. For example, the requirement of using liquid helium or liquid nitrogen for cooling electrons in various electron systems can be lifted."
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