Researchers from Australia’s University of Queensland have made a microscopic “ocean” on a silicon chip to miniaturise the study of wave dynamics.The device, made at UQ’s School of Mathematics and Physics, uses
Researchers from Australia’s University of Queensland have made a microscopic “ocean” on a silicon chip to miniaturise the study of wave dynamics.
The device, made at UQ’s School of Mathematics and Physics, uses a layer of superfluid helium only a few millionths of a millimetre thick on a chip smaller than a grain of rice.
Dr Christopher Baker said it was the world’s smallest wave tank, with the quantum properties of superfluid helium allowing it to flow without resistance, unlike classical fluids such as water, which become immobilised by viscosity at such small scales.
"The study of how fluids move has fascinated scientists for centuries because hydrodynamics governs everything from ocean waves and the swirl of hurricanes to the flow of blood and air through our bodies," Dr Baker said.
However, a lot of the physics behind waves and turbulence has been a mystery.
“Using laser light to both drive and measure the waves in our system, we have observed a range of striking phenomena. We saw waves that leant backward instead of forwards, shock fronts, and solitary waves known as solitons which travelled as depressions rather than peaks. This exotic behaviour has been predicted in theory but never seen
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