A dilution refrigerator which can provide an ultra-low temperature environment close to zero to support research into dark matter has been unveiled in the Department of Physics.
Manufactured by Oxford Instruments, the apparatus will permit experiments at a temperature a hundredth of a degree centigrade above absolute zero, allowing precise measurements of nature in its quantum regime, and searches for axion dark matter.
Funded by UK Research Councils (UKRI) through the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), it is the first closed cycle dilution refrigerator at the University of Sheffield.
The refrigerator will be utilised by the Quantum Sensors for the Hidden Sector collaboration, led by Professor Ed Daw, who is also the group principal investigator in Sheffield.
As well as searching for axions, the refrigerator will be used to make precise measurements of the performance and properties of quantum electronics devices such as amplifiers, power sensors, and engineered two-state quantum systems called qubits.
There will also be opportunities for PhD students and undergraduates to gain experience in ultra-low-temperature physics and the operation of dilution refrigerators, a skill highly relevant to growth areas in industry such as quantum instrumentation and quantum computing.
Professor Daw said: “It is really exciting to be starting to operate a dilution refrigerator here at Sheffield, and I anticipate many interesting and ground-breaking applications.
"There aren't so many facilities like this in the North East, so it is also wonderful to be instrumental in some real levelling up!
"I hope what we do in our lab will be of benefit to the wider community, both at our own University, and through our collaborations with other institutions across the UK and internationally.”
