1 Key Raw Materials and Suppliers
The raw materials of Dilution Refrigerators are mainly key components. From the structural perspective, Dilution Refrigerators mainly include the cryostat and support frame; the Gas Handling System (GHS) and Pulse Tube (PT) compressor; the Control Unit (CU). Among them, the Gas Handling System contains all pumps, pumping lines, valves, pressure gauges, and so on, Which are necessary to operate the entire system.
The Key Suppliers of Raw Materials for Global Dilution Refrigerators Market are Pfeiffer, Leybold GmbH, Agilent Technologies Inc., Swagelok, VAT Inc., Emerson, Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd., Thales Cryogenics BV, etc.
Table Key Suppliers of Raw Materials
Raw Materials | Suppliers | Contact |
Vacuum pump |
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Agilent Technologies Inc |
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Fluid system components |
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Pulse Tube (PT) compressor | Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Ltd. |
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2 Dilution Refrigerators Market Major Distributors
Global dilution refrigerators market major distributors includes PSI Solutions, Inc., Aimil Ltd., GVL Cryoengineering GmbH, Rockgate, Specialise Instruments, etc.
PSI Solutions, Inc. is one of those companies that have made a name for themselves in the distribution arena with their professional services and broad customer base. Similarly, Aimil Ltd. is noted for its deep penetration into the Asian market, while GVL Cryoengineering GmbH is an indispensable distribution partner in the region with its business network and expertise in Europe, and Rockgate, with its strong presence in the Japanese market, is a strong supporter of dilution refrigeration technology applications. Finally, Specialise Instruments adds diversity to the global distribution network with its expertise and customer service in the Indian market. These distributors not only form an important part of the dilution refrigeration equipment market, but also provide customers in different regions with access to advanced technology through their global network.
3 Dilution Refrigerators Downstream Customers
The major downstream customer company in the Dilution Refrigerators market are QCi, Google, IBM, Rigetti Compute, D-Wave Systems, SpinQ, etc.
Table Dilution Refrigerators Customers
Customers | Contact Information |
QCi |
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IBM |
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Rigetti Compute |
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D-Wave Systems |
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SpinQ |
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Alice & Bob |
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4 Market Trends
Liquid helium, which has a boiling point of 4.2K, is an essential substance for low temperature experiments at present. But to reach ultra-low temperatures close to absolute zero, some special means are needed, and dilution refrigeration is one of them. There are two natural isotopes helium-3 and helium-4 in liquid helium for refrigeration, and when the temperature is below 0.87K, liquid helium will separate into two phases, similar to the stratification of water and oil. The upper layer is the phase with more helium-3 (concentrated phase), and the lower layer is the phase with less helium-3 (diluted phase). If the lower liquid is pumped, helium-3 will evaporate faster than helium-4, further diluting the diluted phase, and helium-3 will spread from the concentration to the diluted phase, which will absorb heat and thus achieve the purpose of cooling. However, to cool helium-3 to very low temperatures (from room temperature to liquid helium temperature zone), it usually needs to be pre-cooled by liquid helium, which is called wet dilution refrigeration. Wet dilution refrigeration requires a large amount of liquid helium, which is an expensive consumable. If liquid helium is not used in the pre-cooling process and the temperature is cooled by pulse pipe cooling, this method is called dry dilution refrigeration, that is, liquid helium-free dilution refrigeration. Of course, the refrigeration principle of the two refrigeration methods below the liquid helium temperature zone is the same, but the latter has more advantages in economy and maintainability because it does not consume a lot of liquid helium, and has now become the mainstream of the market.
5 Growth Drivers
Table Growth Drivers
Item | Description |
There is a growing demand for ultra-low temperature systems from quantum computing and other emerging technologies | Dilution chillers are widely used in condensed matter, quantum computing, nanomaterials, and astronomical observations. Although other types of ultra-low temperature coolers can achieve temperatures almost as low as dilution refrigerators, they are not suitable for quantum computing (QC) and can only be used for pre-cooling, such as adiabatic demagnetization coolers, which are “disposable” cryogenic methods that do not provide a durable low temperature environment and are not suitable for direct use to support quantum computing (QC) and quantum simulation (QS). Typically, most research on topological quantum computing involves dilution chillers to create temperatures close to 0K for them. Even lower temperatures are precooled by an adiabatic nuclear demagnetization chiller through a dilution chiller to reach the lowest temperature in condensed matter, which is the only way to cool macroscopic objects to microKelvin (µK). At present, the dilution refrigerator is mainly used for quantum computing, and its function is mainly to meet the operation requirements of quantum computers with superconducting, semiconductor, topology, ion trap and other routes that have requirements for low temperature environment. With the rapid development of emerging technologies such as quantum computing, the demand for ultra-low temperature systems will continue to grow, which will drive the development of dilution chillers. |
Dilution Refrigerators have strong cooling capacity | Dilution Refrigerators have strong cooling capabilities and can obtain mK temperature without a magnetic field. They have the advantages of long-term continuous cooling, high stability, and easy operation. This product is currently an important piece of equipment for obtaining mK temperature. Dilution Refrigerators can be widely used in low-temperature physics, materials science, quantum computing, astronomy and other fields. According to Dilution Refrigerators, the refrigerant is divided into Cryogen-free Dilution Refrigerators (CFDR) and wet Dilution Refrigerators (WDR). CFDR uses a mechanical refrigerator (pulse tube) to provide pre-cooling, while WDR uses liquid nitrogen and liquid helium to provide pre-cooling. Comparing adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration and adsorption refrigeration, only Dilution Refrigerators can achieve refrigeration below 10mk. Compared with other cooling equipment, Dilution Refrigerators have outstanding advantages such as a strong ability to maintain extremely low-temperature environments and high-performance reliability. Therefore, they have become key equipment to support the development of technologies such as quantum computing. The strong refrigeration capacity of Dilution Refrigerators is one of the driving factors driving the development of the industry. |
6 Market Challenges
Table Market Challenges
Item | Description |
The dilution refrigerator temperature range is limited to approximately 2 mK | There is basically no low temperature limit for dilution refrigerators. However, for practical reasons the temperature range is limited to approximately 2 mK. At extremely low temperatures, the viscosity and thermal conductivity of the circulating fluid increase as the temperature decreases. To reduce viscous heating, the mixing chamber inlet and outlet pipe diameters should be T_m^(-3), and for low heat flow, the pipe length should be T_m^(-8). Therefore, to reduce the temperature by a factor of 2, one needs to increase the diameter by a factor of 8 and the length by a factor of 256. Therefore, the volume must increase by a factor of 214 = 16,384. In other words, each cm3 at 2 mK becomes 16,384 cm3 at 1 mK. The machines would become very big and very expensive. |
Threat of substitutes | At present, in addition to dilution cooling, the very low-temperature refrigeration technology also includes adsorption refrigeration and adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration. The principle of adsorption refrigerating machine is evaporation refrigeration, using the saturated temperature of the working medium 4He or 3He and the corresponding relationship between saturated vapor pressure, the adsorption rate of the adsorbent to the adsorbent at different temperatures is different, through the periodic heating and cooling of the adsorbent to achieve refrigeration. As a solid-state refrigeration method, adiabatic demagnetization has the outstanding advantages of independent gravity, independent of the scarce working medium helium-3, compact and efficient, and has become the mainstream of extremely low temperature refrigeration technology in space applications, and it is also gradually favored in ground applications. Adiabatic demagnetization chillers (ADR) use the magnetothermal effect of paramagnetic salts to achieve refrigeration, and can obtain a temperature of 20-100mK. The application of adsorption chillers and adiabatic demagnetization chillers will limit the development of dilution chillers. |
