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Heating, Cooling & Refrigeration · Recorded milestone

Dilution refrigerator

Recorded year1964

Das, de Bruyn Ouboter and Taconis at Leiden mix helium isotopes to cool to thousandths of a degree above absolute zero.

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Built on

SuperconductivityRecorded · 1911enables
Quantum mechanicsRecorded · 1925enables

Led to

Quantum supremacy demoRecorded · 2019requires
Error-corrected quantum computerForecast · ~2030enables
Helium-free millikelvin coolersForecast · ~2030enables
Qubit chips from standard fabsForecast · ~2034requires

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.