Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have made significant improvements to a commonly used refrigerator, reducing the time and energy needed to cool materials to temperatures just above absolute zero. This breakthrough could greatly benefit the growing quantum industry, where ultracold materials are widely utilized. The scientists are currently working to bring their prototype device to the commercial market.rial partner, could save 27 million watts of power, $30 million in global electricity consumption, and enough cooling water to fill 5,000 Olympic swimming pools annually.
From stabilizing qubits (the basic unit of information in a quantum computer) to maintaining the superconducting properties of materials and keeping NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope cool enough to observe the heavens, ultracold refrigeration is essential to the operation of many devices and sensors. For decades, the pulse tube refrigerator (PTR) has been the workhorse device for achieving temperatures as cold as the vacuum of outer
Refrigerators use high pressure helium gas to compress and expand in order to achieve cooling. This process is similar to how household refrigerators use freon to remove heat. The PTR has been reliable for over 40 years but requires a lot of power, consuming more electricity than any other part of an ultralow temperature experiment.
Upon closer inspection, NIST researcher Ryan Snodgrass and his team discovered that the refrigerator was designed to be energy efficient only at its final operating temperature.
The team found that the refrigerators are not efficient at higher temperatures, which is a problem because the cooling process starts at room temperature. In their experiments, Snodgrass and NIST scientists found that at room temperature, the helium gas was under such high pressure that some of it was diverted through a relief valve instead of being used for cooling. They made changes to the mechanical connections to ensure that none of the helium would be wasted.
Improving the efficiency of the refrigerator was the main focus of the researchers. They made continual adjustments to the valves that regulate the flow of helium gas from the compressor to the refrigerator. By allowing the valves to have a larger opening at room temperature and then gradually closing them during the cooling process, they were able to reduce the cooldown time to half or even a quarter of its current duration. This is significant because scientists currently have to wait a day or more for new quantum circuits to reach the required cold temperature for testing. This time delay can limit the progress of scientific research in the field of cryogenics.
nic temperatures, the quicker cooldown offered by this technology could have a significant impact on various fields, such as quantum computing and other areas of quantum research. The NIST team’s technology could also make it possible for scientists to replace large pulse tube refrigerators with much smaller ones, requiring less supporting infrastructure, according to Snodgrass.
As research on quantum computing and its use of cryogenic technology continues to expand, there will be a greater need for these refrigerators. The modified PTR could then save a significant amount of money, electrical energy, and cooling water. In addition to supporting…Introducing a rapidly cooling quantum refrigerator could not only support the growth of the quantum economy, but it could also speed up scientific research by eliminating the need to wait for qubits and other quantum components to cool for days or weeks.
Journal Reference:
- Ryan Snodgrass, Vincent Kotsubo, Scott Backhaus, Joel Ullom. Dynamic acoustic optimization of pulse tube refrigerators for rapid cooldown. Nature Communications, 2024; 15 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47561-5
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