Oxford Instruments Nanoscience has developed a recondensing dewar, the IntegraAC, which reduces the liquid helium consumption of Oxford's low-temperature inserts and superconducting magnets.
This has solved the problem of the helium shortage, allowing researchers to keep their existing equipment.
Professor Rimberg, from the physics and astronomy department of Dartmouth College, said: 'The IntegraAC provided us with the option of using either of our existing dilution refrigerators with a recondensing cyrostat rather than purchasing entirely new systems.
'It has also completely changed our approach to sample screening.
'Since the cryostat is always cold, costs associated with cooling a sample are minimised.
'Even more importantly, the IntegraAC has cut helium consumption for our largest cryostat by 80 per cent, allowing us to stay cold longer and make the most of our limited liquid-helium budget.' Professor Tarucha from the Department of Applied Physics, Graduate School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, said: 'Although we have a helium liquefier on site, we have many dilution refrigerators, 3He inserts and superconducting magnets in our laboratory.
'We decided to purchase a recondensing dewar rather than a cryogen-free system because we were able to carry on using all our existing equipment while significantly reducing our helium consumption and labour costs.
'Furthermore, using the IntegraAC had absolutely no effect on our highly vibration-sensitive experiments for measuring a very small current down to 100 fem to amperes.'
