Only this laboratory can meet the experimental needs and search for global experiments | nanometers | requirements

Originally, "searching all over the world, only here can meet the experimental needs"

——Exploring the Nanovacuum Interconnection Experimental Station closest to the Lunar Environment

The researchers in the picture collected and recorded experimental data at the nanovacuum interconnection experimental station. The following image shows the interior of the nano vacuum interconnection experimental station.

Image [Approaching a Big Country's Heavy Weapon]

A drizzling rain falls in the Jiangnan region, and the early autumn lotus flowers compete in the warm breeze. To the east of Suzhou city in Jiangsu province, cars slowly pass through the sparkling Dushu Lake, leaving behind many distinctive modern buildings and approaching a seemingly inconspicuous small building.

This is the Nanovacuum Interconnection Experiment Station of Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nanobionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and it is also the largest scientific research site on the earth that is closest to the vacuum environment of the moon.

"The experimental station has cultivated core technological achievements with international advanced levels, such as second-generation quantum materials and devices, third-generation semiconductor materials and devices." On August 28th, in an interview with Science and Technology Daily, Researcher Zhang Gui, the director of the experimental station, proudly said.

Construction of an experimental station close to the lunar environment

Under the shade of green trees, the reporter walked into the gray white building where the experimental station was located. Deep in the spacious and tidy hall, there is a unique cave - on the dark green floor, various scientific research instruments are displayed on both sides, and researchers wearing white coats shuttle back and forth

Zhang Jie told reporters that most of the main scientific research projects conducted by the experimental station are related to nanodevices and nanomaterials.

For ordinary people, the term nano carries a sense of distance. In fact, nanometers are just a unit of length, 1 nanometer is 10 ^ -9 meters. Nanomaterials refer to materials that have at least one aspect in length, width, height, and height at the nanoscale or are composed of them as basic units. At the microscopic scale, nanomaterials seem to have opened up a new world of matter.

"Realizing surface or interface control of nanomaterials, and even exploring new preparation processes such as atomic manufacturing under vacuum interconnection, is a globally recognized key technical issue for breaking the 'Moore's Law Invalidation Curse' and developing future information devices and integrated circuits." Zhang Jing told reporters.

However, the preparation, testing, and processing of nanomaterials are extremely difficult. "Taking the Class 10 ultra clean room for manufacturing chips as an example, in a space of 1 cubic foot, there cannot be more than 10 particles of dust larger than 0.5 microns." Zhang Jing said, "For new nanomaterials, the requirements are more stringent to ensure their intrinsic properties."

In order to provide experimental conditions close to the lunar environment for scientific researchers, in 2014, the Chinese Academy of Sciences Suzhou Institute of Nanotechnology and Nanobionics, in cooperation with the team of academicians Bao Xinhe and Xue Qikun, began to build the world's first major scientific device, the nano vacuum interconnection experimental station, which integrates material growth, device processing, testing and analysis.

Overcoming Two Major Challenges and Completing Construction

Deepening into the research area inside the experimental station, it feels like entering a future world from a movie -203 meter long silver ultra-high vacuum pipes crisscross, connecting 40 large equipment. Magnetic transmission small vehicles transport samples at a speed of 3.2 meters per minute through the tracks inside the vacuum pipes, and are navigated to various equipment nodes by magnets on the tracks outside the pipes.

"A foreign vacuum device was built at the same time as us, but its scale and complexity were not as good as ours, and the vacuum degree was also much lower. This means that the materials there will soon become 'not so clean'. Researcher Cui Yi, deputy director of the experimental station, introduced that in order to achieve an ultra-high vacuum environment, the experimental station has designed and modified the connection method between equipment and pipelines by improving pipeline materials, processing technology, and setting up multi-stage pump groups, ensuring that the vacuum degree at each location is balanced.".

"Another difficulty in construction is to achieve interconnectivity among all equipment while ensuring vacuum performance." Researcher Li Fangsen, deputy director of the experimental station, said that most of the ready-made equipment cannot meet the demand and needs to be modified by researchers themselves.

"Researchers cleverly designed sample racks and used magnetic remote operation and transportation to send samples into pipelines through robotic arms. Each section of the pipeline has two small cars with magnets, which are automatically controlled by the smart central control panel. The equipment used to test material properties is distributed on both sides of the main axis of the vacuum pipeline." Pointing to the robotic arm emitting metallic luster and the slowly moving car, Li Fangsen told reporters, "In this way, we have achieved interconnection and interoperability of all equipment."

In February of this year, the second phase construction project of the experimental station was successfully accepted. "At present, the vacuum degree of the experimental station is better than 2 × 10-8 Pascals, which is close to the lunar environment, which has fought for a longer 'fidelity period' for materials and broken through the bottleneck that has long hindered the basic research and technological development of nanomaterials." Cui Yi told reporters.

Becoming a "treasure trove" for nanomaterial research

Research infrastructure is the cornerstone of nanotechnology innovation. In Zhang Gui's view, the experimental station has become a "treasure trove" for research on nanomaterials and devices, and a platform for gathering talents and achievements.

When the reporter saw Yu Fengzhi, he was developing a new generation of memory materials in the experimental station. As R&D personnel of Lomar Chip Technology Changzhou Co., Ltd., Yu Fengzhi and colleagues have been stationed here for 3 years for experiments, and progress is currently smooth. It is expected to complete the first batch of chips by the end of this year. Previously, some foreign peers attempted to develop this new type of memory, but the results were not ideal, mainly due to the inability to achieve continuous growth of different crystal materials in a vacuum environment.

In addition to receiving domestic researchers, many foreign researchers have also turned their attention to experimental stations.

In 2021, the team of Academician Chen Zhongwei from the University of Waterloo in Canada found an experimental station. They encountered difficulties in developing zinc ion batteries and hoped to use the power of the experimental station to complete the "last leg" of their research. Dr. Rodin, a member of the team, introduced that the surface structure of zinc anodes is small to the nanometer level, and even the highest magnification optical microscope cannot see it clearly. In addition, the surface structure of the negative electrode is prone to react with air, leading to structural changes.

"Searching around the world, only here can we meet the experimental needs," Rodin admitted. Through deep cooperation with the experimental station, they ultimately obtained experimental conclusions that fully matched various characterization data. The related results were published in Advanced Materials, attracting global attention.

At present, the experimental station has received over 220 scientific research users, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, University of Science and Technology of China, etc., and has achieved a number of important achievements in the fields of energy materials, low dimensional materials, high-temperature superconducting materials, etc.

"The nano vacuum interconnection experimental station provides a revolutionary technological route, which is conducive to breaking through the bottlenecks that hinder the further development of basic research and technology in the field of nanomaterials, and improving the research and development level of major instruments and equipment in China. Looking ahead to the future, Zhang Yi confidently said," We look forward to the experimental station as a major scientific device producing more excellent results! "