https://english.news.cn/20250226/12468f8c4c134bd693c6e02c52716605/c.html

The CAS Institute of Physics has opened a Synergetic Extreme Condition User Facility (SECUF) is an experimental facility integrating extreme conditions such as ultra-low temperature, ultra-high pressure, strong magnetic fields, and ultra-fast optical fields.

It hosts a cluster of precision-controlled “extreme environment generators” and serves as a “super lab” for probing the frontiers of materials science. It can cool materials to an extremely low temperature of 1 millikelvin, which is 1,000 times lower than the cosmic background temperature. It is capable of producing a steady 30 Tesla magnetic field, which is 600,000 times stronger than Earth’s magnetic field, according to Lv Li, the leading scientist of SECUF. The facility can reach an ultra-high pressure of 300 GPa, nearly equivalent to the pressure at the Earth’s core. It can generate ultra-fast laser pulses lasting 100 attoseconds, which is a billionth of a billionth of a second, to capture electron dynamics in real time.

Under extreme conditions, materials often exhibit “magical” behaviors. For instance, superconductivity–where electrical resistance vanishes–occurs only at ultra-low temperatures. Additionally, some ordinary materials transform into superconductors under high pressure.

The completion of the facility is considered to have significantly enhanced China’s comprehensive capabilities in basic and applied basic research in the field of materials science and related areas. Researchers can conduct studies on unconventional superconductivity, topological states of matter, and novel quantum materials and devices, according to Cheng Jinguang, deputy director of the IOP. This experimental platform is open to scientists worldwide. So far, 13 universities and research institutions from 10 countries, including Denmark, Germany, France and Japan, have conducted experiments at the SECUF, with some experimental stations already yielding scientific results.