As technology shrinks into the nanoscale range, the accessories of nanotechnology must also shrink – among these extra tools is a way to measure temperatures of the spaces surrounding nanoscale devices. Conventional (i.e. mercury) thermometers can only measure temperatures at the macroscopic scale (in the range of millimeters). Devices called thermocouples can measure temperatures at the microscale, but taking measurements at the nanoscale requires an all-together different tool.
