Prototype cryofree ultra low temperature environment for quantum enhanced sensors

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It is usually very difficult to see the subtle effects of quantum mechanics at room temperature because they arehidden by the noise of thermal agitation. For example, electrons in a circuit are constantly jostled by the atomsin the material they are moving through. However, if the circuit is cooled close to absolute zero temperature,almost 273C, then the jostling is reduced and sometimes quantum effects can shine through. In this projectwe will build a prototype instrument for detecting tiny magnetic fields, where the sensitivity comes fromquantum effects that are revealed by cooling the sensor. Existing refrigerators that can reach this temperatureare large, expensive and complicated. Our instrument will be smaller, cheaper and easier to operate. Theproject combines a team from Oxford Instruments, experts in providing low temperatures enviroments withadvanced cryogenic engineering, with a team from Lancaster University who are skilled in exploiting these lowtemperatures to manipulate and control the quantum behaviour of electronic circuits. Together we will build aprototype to demonstrate how low temperature quantum technologies can be used in a real sensing product.