International. The English University of Lancaster conducted an experiment with Lego. A team of ultra-low-temperature physicists placed a Lego figure and four blocks of the brand inside a dilution refrigerator.
The machine, which was built at the University, is said to be the most effective refrigerator in the world, capable of reaching 1.6 milligrams above absolute zero (-273.15°C). This experiment shows that the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) material – used by Lego block modules, could be useful especially in the development of quantum computing.
According to the leader of the research team, Dr. Dmitry Zmeev, Lego structures behave as an excellent thermal insulator at cryogenic temperatures due to the clamping arrangement between Lego blocks. They found that ABS/vacuum composite material provides better thermal insulation than known bulk insulating materials in the scanned temperature range (70 mK to 1.8 K).
This makes it very attractive for the design of future scientific equipment such as dilution coolers. The dilution cooler is at the center of a multi-billion dollar global industry and is crucial to the work of modern experimental physics and engineering, including the development of quantum computers.
Replacing the solid materials in use today with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic structures as a thermal insulator could significantly reduce the cost of production. According to the researchers, the next step is to design and 3D print a new thermal insulator for the next generation of dilution coolers.
Source: Lancaster University.
