NIST researchers applied a special form of microwave light to cool a microscopic aluminum drum to an energy level below the generally accepted limit, to just one fifth of a single quantum of energy. Having a diameter of 20 micrometers and a thickness of 100 nanometers, the drum beat 10 million times per second while its range of motion fell to nearly zero. Credit: Teufel/NIST
NIST Physicists have cooled a mechanical object to a temperature lower than previously thought possible, below the”quantum limit.” The new theory and experiments showed that a microscopic mechanical drum – a vibrating aluminum membrane – could be cooled to <1/5 of a single quantum, or packet of energy, lower than ordinarily predicted by quantum physics...
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