Most quantum physics research to date has used particles such as atoms and electrons to observe quantum mechanical behaviour. Professor Mika Sillanpää of Aalto University is now working in the relatively new field of using supercool temperatures to observe quantum features in larger objects.
When considering tiny constituents of matter, such as single atoms or molecules, the laws of physics seem to contradict common sense. Atoms or small elementary particles can properly be understood only by quantum physics, which tells that matter and energy consist of small packets, quanta. On the other hand, according to quantum physics, they both can also behave as waves. Without such detailed knowledge of the fundamental laws of nature, modern electronics, for example, could not have been constructed.
Professor Mika Sillanpää of the Department of Applied Physics and O.V. Lounasmaa laboratory at Aalto University is carrying out basic research on micromechanical resonators measured at ultralow temperatures.
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