Chinese Scientists Create the Coldest Known Artificial Substance
4 day ago / Read about 0 minute
Author:小编   

The Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has announced the latest scientific research achievements from China's space station: a research team, utilizing the ultra-cold atom physics experiment cabinet in the Mengtian module and leveraging the space station's microgravity environment along with all-optical trap cooling technology, reduced the equivalent temperature of a rubidium atom cloud to 9.7 picokelvins, setting a new record for the lowest-temperature artificial substance. The results were published in the journal Science. The team overcame multiple key technological challenges and achieved a high degree of integration for what was originally a massive ground-based experimental system. This breakthrough is expected to advance frontier research such as early universe simulation and ultralight dark matter detection, and the related technologies can also be applied to fields including high-precision atom interferometers and quantum sensors, serving directions such as Earth microgravity measurement and inertial navigation. The project was led by the Technology and Engineering Center for Space Utilization of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Peking University and the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.