NIST's Super-cool Micro Drum (IMAGE)

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

NIST's Super-cool Micro Drum

Caption

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. The drum, which is 20 micrometers in diameter and 100 nanometers thick, beat10 million times per second while its range of motion fell to nearly zero.

Credit

Teufel/NIST

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