The cryostat used by the Basel physicists to reach a record temperature of 220 micro-Kelvin. The special thermometer along with a scale bar can be seen in the centre of the image (golden rectangle).
The cryostat used by the Basel physicists to reach a record temperature of 220 micro-Kelvin. The special thermometer along with a scale bar can be seen in the centre of the image (golden rectangle) . Cooling materials to extremely low temperatures is important for basic physics research as well as for technological applications. By improving a special refrigerator and a low-temperature thermometer, Basel scientists have now managed to cool an electric circuit on a chip down to 220 microkelvin - close to absolute zero. When materials are cooled down to extremely low temperatures, their behaviour often differs strongly from that at room temperature. A well-known example is superconductivity: below a critical temperature some metals and other substances conduct electric current without any losses. At even lower temperatures additional quantum-physical effects can occur, which are relevant for basic research as well as for applications in quantum technologies.
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