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Home | Innovation

World's deepest, largest underground lab operational in China

Xinhua | Updated: 2023-12-07 10:21

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[657135e7a3] Workers are seen at the construction site of the second
phase of the China Jinping Underground Laboratory in Southwest
China's Sichuan province, Sep 19, 2023. [Photo/Xinhua]

CHENGDU -- A 2,400-meter-deep physics laboratory in Southwest China's
Sichuan province became operational on Thursday, making it the
deepest and largest underground lab in the world.

Scientists believe the laboratory provides a "clean" space for them
to pursue the invisible substance known as dark matter. They said the
extreme depth helps block most cosmic rays that mess with the
observation.

The Deep Underground and Ultra-low Radiation Background Facility for
Frontier Physics Experiments (DURF) is located beneath Jinping
Mountain in Sichuan's Liangshan Yi autonomous prefecture.

The DURF, with a total room capacity of 330,000 cubic meters, is the
second phase of China Jinping Underground Laboratory. It started
construction in December 2020 and was jointly built by Tsinghua
University and Yalong River Hydropower Development Company Ltd.

Thanks to its location, the DURF is exposed to a tiny flux of cosmic
rays which is only one hundred-millionth of that on the earth's
surface. It boasts advantages including ultra-low cosmic ray flux,
extremely low environmental radiation, extremely low radon
concentration, and ultra-clean space, which will boost dark matter
detection, said Yue Qian, a professor at Tsinghua University.

Scientists infer that visible matter accounts for only about 5
percent of the universe, while some 95 percent of the universe is
made up of dark matter and dark energy.

The first batch of 10 teams from Chinese universities and research
institutions, such as Tsinghua University and Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, have been stationed in the DURF to carry out scientific
experiments.

The DURF will become a world-class interdisciplinary deep underground
scientific research center integrating multiple disciplines including
particle physics, nuclear astrophysics and life sciences, to
facilitate the development of China's research in relevant frontier
fields, Yue said.

The first phase of the China Jinping Underground Laboratory was
completed and put into use at the end of 2010, with a room capacity
of about 4,000 cubic meters. It has made a number of scientific
achievements, elevating China's dark matter direct detection
experiments to an advanced level on the global stage.

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