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

En Route Toward the First German Quantum Computer

Fraunhofer IPMS is collaborating on the development of an integrated German quantum computer based on superconducting quantum chips. Together with 24 German research institutions and companies, under the coordination of Forschungszentrum (FZ) Jülich, Fraunhofer IPMS is working on this quantum computer with the goal of improving error rates. At the halfway...

Indian Student to Research Liquid Hydrogen with Monash University

A Ph.D. student from India is conducting groundbreaking research with Monash University’s Department of Civil Engineering after being selected as the recipient of the prestigious Australian government-funded Maitri Scholars Program. Chennai native Rohith Prakash will focus on advancing the safe transport and storage of liquid hydrogen, with a particular emphasis on...

Lightweight Supramolecular Material for Compressed Hydrogen Storage

A team of chemists from the University of Hong Kong, Northwestern University, and Duke University has developed a supramolecular material capable of compressing hydrogen for storage without being too heavy. Their study, published in Nature Chemistry, demonstrates the use of porous organic crystals for hydrogen storage. Hydrogen has long been...

Rising Helium Demand Set to Double by 2035

A new report from IDTechEx suggests that global helium demand is set to double by 2035, driven by the wide-ranging applications of this vital element. Helium, a finite yet critical resource, is indispensable across multiple industries. From medical imaging to semiconductor manufacturing, helium’s unique properties—such as high thermal conductivity, chemical...

Cryogenic Therapy Puts the Freeze on Esophageal Cancer

Patients with esophageal tumors often experience malignant dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing due to an obstruction, complicating their treatment and preventing them from eating normally. The Advanced Center for Therapeutic Endoscopy at WVU Medicine J.W. Ruby Memorial Hospital is the first in West Virginia to offer an innovative solution to this...

Superconducting Nanowires Enable Cooler Photon-Counting Electronics

References M. Castellani et al., “Nanocryotron ripple counter integrated with a superconducting nanowire single-photon detector for megapixel arrays,” Phys. Rev. Appl. 22, 024020 (2024). Image: This micrograph image shows a counting device for a single-photon detector. In this new design, both the detector and the signal processing electronics are fabricated from superconducting nanowires. Credit: M....

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 Treatment of Materials

F.J. Diekman Controlled Thermal Processing, Inc. info@metal-wear.com Cryogenic Processing (also called cryogenic treatment, and incorrectly “cryogenic tempering”) is a process that uses cryogenic temperatures to modify materials to enhance their performance. Cryogenic Processing involves the slow reduction in temperature of the material to at least -300°F (-185°C) and holding the...

Cryogenics in Space

Peter Kittel University of California-Berkeley pkittel@cal.berkeley.edu Space Cryogenics is the application of cryogenics to space missions. These applications fall into two broad areas, supporting space science missions and supporting the space transportation infrastructure. Science applications: The atmosphere is opaque to much of the electro-magnetic spectrum. In space, the absence of...

Cryosurgery

Review of Cryosurgery Boris Rubinsky, PhD Hebrew University School of Science and Engineering Research Center for Biomedical Engineering 78b Ross Building Givat Ram, Jerusalem 91904 Israel rubinsky@cs.huji.ac.il as published in Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, August 2000, Vol. 2, pp. 157-187. Abstract: Cryosurgery is a surgical technique that employs freezing...

Liquefied Natural Gas

Liquefied Natural Gas as it relates to the Field of Cryogenics John W. Bonn VJ Systems, LLC johnbonn@vjsystems-lic.com Today the world is looking for a cleaner fuel and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plays a large part in achieving this goal. LNG in a liquid form is at -162°C (-259°F) and...

Latest in Ask the Experts

Presence of alloying elements in tool steels

I want to expand my knowledge of cryogenics in general and tool steels in particular. Specifically, I am keenly interested in learning about the presence of alloying elements in tool steels and how their presence in various combinations affects the performance of tool steels after cryogenic treatment.

Pros and cons of barcoding samples

I was wondering if I could ask for input on pros and cons of barcoding. We are in the process of trying to decide if we should start barcoding our samples and I’m just not sure if this is feasible for our organization. We have numerous sites all over the...

Purity level of helium gas stream in cryo plant purification system

I would like to know what the principal methods and the relative instrumentation to check the purity level of helium gas stream in the purification system of a common helium cryogenic plant are. What principles are these instruments based on? And what are their principal characteristics?

LN2 for cryopreservation through controlled rate freezing of samples

I am the cryogenic specialist for a stem cell bank in Greece. I am trying to find the minimum requirements (purity, humidity, etc.) of liquid nitrogen for cryopreservation through controlled rate freezing of biological samples.

CATEGORIES