  In highly anisotropic layered cuprates such as Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$
tunneling measurements on a stack of intrinsic junctions in a high-bias range
are often susceptible to self-heating. In this study we monitored the
temperature variation of a stack ("sample stack") of intrinsic junctions by
measuring the resistance change of a nearby stack ("thermometer stack") of
intrinsic junctions, which was strongly thermal-coupled to the sample stack
through a common Au electrode. We then adopted a
proportional-integral-derivative scheme incorporated with a substrate-holder
heater to compensate the temperature variation. This in-situ temperature
monitoring and controlling technique allows one to get rid of spurious
tunneling effects arising from the self-heating in a high bias range.
