Cold Facts Digital – The go-to place for Cryogenics and Superconductivity

SC study’s reported successes and failures provide valuable data

In their paper "Exploration of new superconductors and functional materials, and fabrication of superconducting tapes and wires of iron pnictides" published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, researchers report on four years of extensive research on around 1,000 materials, with detailed insights learned from the new superconducting materials discovered...

LHC arrives at the next energy frontier

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) is collecting data again for the first time in two years. After powering back on in April and seeing its first record-energy collisions in May, the LHC began colliding particles at a steady rate to provide data for research on June 3. During Run II,...

GTI’s David Carroll assumes presidency of IGU

On June 5, David Carroll, Gas Technology Institute (GTI) president and CEO, assumed the additional role of president of the International Gas Union (IGU) for a three-year term at the closing ceremony of the World Gas Conference in Paris. With the growth of natural gas in the global energy landscape,...

Protons in LHC collide at record-breaking 13 TeV

On May 20, protons collided in the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at a record-breaking energy of 13 TeV for the first time. CERN has released images showing the protons colliding and sending showers of particles through the ALICE, ATLAS, CMS and LHCb detectors.

CUORE experiment will study neutrinos with world’s coldest detector

Researchers at Gran Sasso National Laboratory in Italy are using the world's coldest detector to find an incredibly rare neutrino decay process. To conduct the experiment, the Cryogenic Underground Observatory for Rare Events (CUORE), the team will create the single coldest cubic meter in the universe in order to search...

Discovery of new state of matter could lead to higher temperature superconductors

An international research team led by Kosmas Prassides of Tohoku University has reported the discovery of a new state of matter that could lead to higher temperature superconductors. This new state of matter, called the Jahn-Teller metal, was discovered during the study of the superconducting pairing mechanism in a new...

Latest in Defining Cryogenics

Dewar

A dewar is a type of cryostat named after Sir James Dewar, the researcher who first developed the concept of a vacuum insulated container with silvered walls to reflect thermal radiation. Dewar was the first to liquefy hydrogen, and he created the device to store his discovery. The thermos bottle...

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon Cryocoolers

Stirling and Gifford-McMahon (GM) cryocoolers are two of the most commonly used cryocoolers in cryogenics. Both devices have a significant industrial base and operate at a wide range of temperatures and capacities. The thermodynamic cycles for both of these cryocoolers are quite similar. The Stirling cycle consists of a compressor,...

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

A significant commercial application of cryogenics is the liquefaction, transport and storage of natural gas. Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is generally 95 percent methane with a few percent ethane and much lower concentrations of propane and butane. LNG liquefies at 111.6 K. Unlike many applications of cryogenics, the motivation for...

Latest in Cryo Central

Cryogenic Electronics

Randall Kirschman, consulting physicist, Mountain View, California ExtElect@gmail.com Cryogenic electronics—the operation of electronic devices, circuits, and systems at cryogenic temperatures—has been a valuable technology for decades. Cryogenic electronics (also referred to as low-temperature electronics, or cold electronics) can be based on semiconductive devices, on superconductive devices, or on a combination...

Particle Physics: High Energy Physics

Cryogenics and High-Energy Physics 1. From symmetry magazine: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org/cms/?pid=1000627: Cryogenics is the study of how materials behave at temperatures near absolute zero. In high-energy particle accelerators, such frigid temperatures reduce the electrical resistance of wires in superconducting magnets, increasing the magnet strength and allowing faster particle acceleration. The same holds...

HTS Degaussing Systems

From the Spring 2009 issue of Cold Facts (Volume 25, Number 2): Thanks to a joint project by the US Navy and a number of industry partners, high temperature superconducting (HTS) technology is now at the heart of an advanced degaussing system aboard the USS Higgins at the naval station...

Magnetic Resonance Imaging

From http://www.superconductors.org: An area where superconductors can perform a life-saving function is in the field of biomagnetism. Doctors need a non-invasive means of determining what’s going on inside the human body. By impinging a strong superconductor-derived magnetic field into the body, hydrogen atoms that exist in the body’s water and...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Power usage: cryogenic systems vs. regular refrigerators

A recent project highlighted to me that closed cycle cryogenic cooling systems use far more electrical power to reduce temperatures by a few watts than regular refrigerators. I am sure it must be something to do with the extra difficulty of removing the heat from the liquid nitrogen or similar...

Redundancy strategies for mechanical -80C freezers

I was wondering what kind of redundancy strategies are people using for their mechanical -80C freezers? I am aware of the following. Please add if you are doing something different. 1) 1 Backup freezer for every 10 freezers – Empty and maintained at -80C at all times 2) Backup C02...

Safety guidelines for handling cryo vessels of nitrogen

I am looking for any safety guidelines for handling cryogenic vessels of nitrogen indoors and outdoors. I am especially interested in recommendations for area monitors to detect leaks, flow detection devices, etc.

Method to move components in a cryogenic environment

Does anyone know of a method with which to reliably move components in a cryogenic environment? We are interested in moving detectors in a cryogenically cooled (2K) vacuum chamber, which is contained within a larger cryostat/isolation vacuum with thermal shields. As the desired horizontal or vertical displacement is between 10...

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