Development of a Demagnetization Refrigerator for Solid State Research and Education

The objective of this project is to develp an instrument to cool electrons in semiconductors to extremely low temperatures (lower than 1 millikelvin), a unique capability that would allow studies of new states of matter formed by low-dimensional electrons. At such low temperatures (and with an intense magnetic field), electronic behavior differs completely from ordinary ones observed at room temperatures. Studies of electrons at such low temperatures would open the door for fundamental discoveries in condensed matter physics. Understanding low-temperature electron transport in low-dimensional and nano-scale devices is the foundation for developing next generation quantum information and quantum computation technologies. The primary material systems for such investigations will be ultra-high quality GaAs/AlGaAs quantum structures grown by molecular beam epitaxy, materials that are widely used in lasers and telecommunications