Chinese scientists report development of helium cooling system using Helium-4
(SouthChinaMorningPost) The SCMP recently published results of research by Professor Dang Haizheng and his colleagues with the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who have built a powerful chiller for some of the most demanding quantum machines without using any helium-3 at all. IQT-News summarizes the discussion and the importance of reported discovery below.
Researchers in Shanghai say they have developed a device to create extremely low temperatures that would make cutting-edge technology such as quantum computers more widely available.
The core components of most quantum machines – from computers to satellites – detect and manipulate subatomic particles that are easily disturbed by heat so must operate in conditions near absolute zero. Cooling the most advanced quantum hardware requires helium-3, an isotope of helium that can carry heat away with unmatched efficiency.
But helium-3 is extremely rare on Earth and the main supply is from ageing nuclear warheads.
Researchers in Shanghai say they have developed a device to create extremely low temperatures that would make cutting-edge technology such as quantum computers more widely available.
Cooling the most advanced quantum hardware requires helium-3, an isotope of helium that can carry heat away with unmatched efficiency.
Helium-3 is extremely rare on Earth and the main supply is from ageing nuclear warheads. The demand for helium-3 in quantum research and other disruptive technology has soared. In less than two decades its price has risen more than 40-fold to over US$5,000 per litre in gas form.
In the United States, helium-3 is one of the few commodities that is subject to strict government production and distribution controls on military grounds.
In a paper published in domestic peer-reviewed Science Bulletin recently, Professor Dang Haizheng and his colleagues with the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said they had built a powerful chiller for some of the most demanding quantum machines without using any helium-3 at all.
The new cooling device reported by Professor Dang Haizheng and colleagues uses helium-4, another helium isotope as its coolant.
Sandra K. Helsel, Ph.D. has been researching and reporting on frontier technologies since 1990. She has her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona.
