Mumbai: India has opened its first Liquid Helium Cryogenic Facility at IIT Bombay. Dr. Jitendra Singh, the Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, officially started the new facility. He also praised IIT Bombay for its advancements in quantum technology. These steps show India's dedication to new and advanced science in India.
New Liquid Helium Facility for India
During his visit, Dr. Jitendra Singh toured IIT Bombay's quantum labs and opened the new Liquid Helium Facility. This facility plays a key role for India. Liquid helium is a special gas that can cool things down to extremely low temperatures, close to absolute zero. This extreme cold is needed for many advanced scientific experiments and modern technologies.
The new facility will help India grow its capabilities in several important areas:
- Cryogenic Engineering: This is the science of working with very low temperatures. It is important for various scientific and industrial uses.
- Quantum Computing: Building new, super-fast computers that use the special rules of quantum physics. These computers can solve complex problems much faster.
- Healthcare Technologies: Developing advanced medical tools, like powerful MRI machines that need extremely cold environments to function.
- Green Energy Devices: Creating new ways to make and use clean energy, which sometimes requires cooling technology.
Developing such advanced facilities within India reduces dependence on other countries. It helps India become more self-reliant in critical areas of science and research. Building this kind of infrastructure also creates opportunities for Indian scientists and engineers. Dr. Singh described the facility as a valuable resource for the country. He also mentioned that this facility has not yet received direct support from the Department of Science and Technology (DST). He said more national teamwork is needed to expand India's own infrastructure for managing extreme cold.
Quantum Technology Advances at IIT Bombay
Dr. Singh also saw the progress made at IIT Bombay's Quantum Research Laboratories. Quantum technology deals with the behaviour of matter and energy at a very small level, like atoms and particles. This field has the potential to bring big changes in computing, sensing, and communication.
At the lab, Dr. Singh reviewed India's first set of home-grown quantum sensing and imaging platforms . "Home-grown" means these tools were designed and made in India. These platforms represent a big step forward for India's research and development (R&D) efforts in this advanced field.
India's First Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM)
One of the key inventions Dr. Singh saw was the first Quantum Diamond Microscope (QDM) made in India. This was developed by the PQuest Group at IIT Bombay. This microscope is special because it uses tiny, specific parts within diamonds, called NV centres.
The QDM can see and map magnetic fields in three dimensions (3D) at a very, very small scale, called the nanoscale. To give an idea of how small this is, a nanometer is one billionth of a meter. This microscope can help in many fields:
- Neuroscience: Studying the brain and how it works, perhaps even at the level of individual neurons and their magnetic activity.
- Materials Science: Discovering and understanding new materials with unique properties by examining their magnetic structures.
- Semiconductor Diagnostics: Checking and improving the tiny parts inside computer chips and other electronic devices for better performance.
This microscope represents a significant step for India in deep scientific research. It positions the country to make new breakthroughs in fields that depend on understanding things at a very tiny level.
India's Fast Progress in Science and Technology
Dr. Singh said that these advancements at the Quantum Lab and the new cryogenic facility show India's fast growth in science and technology. He pointed out that IIT Bombay's work shows how colleges, the government, and companies can work together. This teamwork helps build a top-level science environment for India's future.
