VIENNA MICROKELVIN LABORATORY (WIENµK)
A nuclear demagnetization system coupled to a powerful dilution refrigerator and a vector magnet was developed and built by Leiden Cryogenics Ltd. In February 2011 it was installed and successfully tested in the newly founded "Vienna Microkelvin Laboratory" at Vienna University of Technology. Our aim was to construct a versatile, modular cryostat, with a large experimental space providing an excellent platform for various types of ultralow temperature measurements.
Why ultralow temperatures (ULT)?
- Resolve effects that are hidden at higher T by thermal fluctuations
- Access to elementary excitations
- Search for new phases and types of order
Main research activities of ULT community
- Quantum fluids, e.g., 3He
- 3He and 4He crystals
- Metallic glasses, spin glasses
- Nanoelectronic systems
Here: Quantum phase transitions
- Low and competing energy scales
- Scaling behavior
- New phases stabilized by quantum critical fluctuations