Application of diode monitors in the low temperature termometry

Given is a review of works on the application of semiconductor diodes as low temperature thermometers. Physical bases of diode thermometery as well as Si and GaAs diode properties used in the low temperature technique are considered. An electronic circuit for digital measurements of temperatures by linear diode transducers is presented. It has been shown that diodes of certain technological parameters have a linear temperature dependence within the range of helium and hydrogen temperatures. It is underlined that besides the known diode thermometers for measuring temperatures in the range of 1-400 K with +-0.1 K accuracy, cheap silicon or germanium diodes may be successfully used. Usage of diodes with the linear region of voltage-temperature characteristic permits to measure temperature in the digital form