What is "the quietest room in the world" made about 8.1 billion yen?

In the outskirts of Switzerland city Zurich, we shut out a bit of noise and vibration as wellThe quietest room in the world"Is present. This room is "Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Center(BRNC) ", and in 2011 IBM Research developed a massive amount of funds totaling EUR 60 million (about 8,160 million yen). Ars Technica visits the site and reports on how IBM needed to make a facility completely disconnected from the outside world and how the facility is creating a complete silence space.

Inside the world's quietest room | Ars Technica
http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/07/inside-the-quietest-room-in-the-world/

◆ Why does IBM need "Noise Free Laboratory"
At IBM's research facility BRNC, joint research with the Zurich Technical University is mainly undertaken on nano-level research. The reason why IBM required strict equipment as much as 600 million euros (including about 2,720 million yen) including facility cost of 20 million euros (about 8.2 billion yen) It is in the research of Zurich Technical University. Research is "contents picking up a single atom and moving it to the end of another molecule", which means that the equipment used requires incredible precision.

It is installed indoorsSpin polarized scanning electron microscope(Spin SEM) andScanning tunneling microscopeFor large precision experimental equipment like STM, it is necessary to minimize external interference as much as possible to obtain correct data. "Recommended specifications" specified by manufacturers are specified for each equipment and it is required to be lower than that standard, but this room is far lower than that standard, so far it is possible It is aimed at obtaining images with higher resolution and experimental results than those which have been said.


Initially, IBM's spin SEM was installed on the concrete floor on the first floor of the institute, but after moving to a basement noise-free laboratory, it has a resolution of 2 to 3 times It is said that you can get images and data. A noise-free lab created for the purpose of "What kind of results will be obtained under conditions close to perfection" is exerting the expected effect.

◆ Six rooms shut out from any external factors
There are six noise-free laboratories in the basement of this laboratory, and the interior is isolated from every noise, sound wave, physical vibration, and electromagnetic waves. Facilities and experiments performed vary depending on the room, in a roomRaman microscopeWork like "take a fingerprint of a molecule" was done, and in another room a hugeTransmission electron microscope(TEM) using an electron beam instead of light to observe an extremely small object of 0.09 nanometers.

Six noise-free labs are built directly on the rock and are significantly reducing the physical vibrations from the surrounding roads and subways. The wall of each room is made of an alloy of nickel and iron, and it can prevent most external electromagnetic fields including from the next room. Outside there are external factors that have a great influence on nanoscale experiments such as the radio tower of cellular phone, overhead power transmission line, subway, etc. However, all rooms are controlled so that the influence of those external factors is very small It is. Even humans generate 100 watts of heat, so it is necessary to leave the room during the experiment.

◆ The actual noise-free lab is like this
Passing through the laboratory's campus ...


Continue to the entrance hall on the first floor.


When I got underground, there are 6 noise-free labs that can be used for each experiment.


The room where the Raman microscope is installed looks like this. All the interior walls have sound absorbing material affixed.


Close-up to Raman microscope.


Room where TEM is installed.


Looking at the sectional view of one room, you can see that it is a completely different structure from ordinary buildings.


Auxiliary equipment such as vacuum pumps and electric transformers are installed away from the position where there is no influence.


The following photographs explain the equipment photograph of the laboratory. On the left side is a noise free laboratory, the electromagnetic field · humidity · temperature sensor is hanging from the ceiling, walls surrounding the room are divided into three directions of X axis, Y axis, and Z axis to remove residual magnetic field such as geomagnetism To coverHelmholtz coilHas been installed. Vibration removal system in which the upper right is an auxiliary equipment room and the lower right is installed under the noise free laboratory.


Illustrate the concept of a noise free laboratory as follows. The space where the researcher enters and the space where the experimental apparatus is installed are separate structures, and the base on which the experimental apparatus is placed is made from weight 30 tons to 60 tons considerably heavyweight. By floating this heavy foundation on an active-controlled air suspension installed on rock, it is designed to shut out vibrations of large trucks transmitted from the ground in real time.


Incidentally,In the article by Ars TechnicaThere is a movie covering the laboratory and you can see how it entered the noise free laboratory. Even movies can experience the moment when "silence" is felt at the moment of entering the room, so once you see it there is no loss.