National Major Science and Technology Infrastructure, often referred to as "major facilities," are critical national assets for fundamental research, serving as core tools and platforms for cutting-edge exploration. Currently, Beijing has established 37 major scientific infrastructure platforms within the Huairou Science City, forming the nation's densest cluster of such facilities. By the end of 2025, these platforms had cumulatively provided over 1.77 million hours of open access, offering excellent fundamental research conditions for scientists worldwide.
A "Super Microscope" Prepares for Official Operation Nestled among the mountains at the southern foot of the Yanshan Mountains and beside Yanqi Lake, a massive silver-gray ring-shaped structure lies quietly. From an aerial view, it resembles a giant magnifying glass placed upon the land. At the Huairou Science City, China's first High-Energy Photon Source (HEPS), also Asia's first fourth-generation synchrotron radiation light source, is transitioning from the construction phase to preparations for official operation. "The overall comprehensive performance of the machine has now reached the internationally leading level for similar facilities," stated Jiao Yi, a researcher at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and deputy director of the HEPS project accelerator division. Since initiating trial user experiments last December, this "super microscope" has undertaken experiments for over 290 research projects from more than 100 institutions. Collaborators include research bodies like Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as well as industry leaders such as CATL and BYD. In March of this year, the facility began globally soliciting its first round of user experiment proposals, marking a significant shift from construction and commissioning to preparation for formal operation. With this transition, the core challenge has evolved from "pushing limits" to achieving "extreme stability." Jiao Yi drew an analogy: "The commissioning and acceptance phase during construction is a bit like a high jump—clearing a very high bar once is sufficient. The operational phase requires jumping that height hundreds of times a day, consistently." During the operation of the high-energy electron beam, the research team performs 22,000 control adjustments per second using the equipment to ensure orbital fluctuations are kept below one micrometer, thereby stably producing high-energy X-rays. "During the trial operation over the past months, users have been full of praise for the quality and stability of the light output. The system now basically meets user requirements. However, formal operation is a marathon, requiring us to develop even more solid foundational skills," Jiao added. Major scientific facilities play an irreplaceable role in fundamental research. The Huairou Science City, envisioned as a "city of science," aims to become a world-class hub for original innovation. Among the six major science facilities, 17 science and education infrastructure projects, and 14 interdisciplinary research platforms planned here, 29 have already entered a scientific research state, with 17 facilities and platforms open for global operation. "Major science facilities themselves are part of fundamental research. If we consider the most cutting-edge scientific research as the brightest stars, then major science facilities are like the pedestals that hold these stars aloft. It is the existence of such platforms that makes much frontier research possible," Jiao Yi noted. He believes that facilities like the High-Energy Photon Source not only serve basic scientific exploration but also "establish a crucial bridge from fundamental research to practical industrial applications." From revealing atomic arrangement changes in alloy materials under extreme conditions, to analyzing the internal structural evolution of batteries during charge-discharge cycles, and mapping neural connection diagrams in primate brain organoids, these original breakthroughs all rely on the support of major science facilities. The forthcoming official operation of the High-Energy Photon Source is expected to open new research pathways in fields like advanced materials, life sciences, and aerospace.
Scientists Rewrite Lunar Evolutionary History with Far Side "Mystery Box" Inside the Electron Microprobe and Scanning Electron Microscope Laboratory at the Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, researchers are intently operating scanning electron microscopes to analyze lunar soil samples returned by the Chang'e-6 mission. As the microscopes work, the composition and structure of the lunar soil become clearly visible on the displays, with the capability for localized magnification as needed. "Don't be fooled by the clear structures on the screen; the actual diameter of these particles is only about one to two hundred micrometers, roughly the thickness of three or four human hairs," explained Chen Yi, the laboratory director and a researcher. "There are even more particles with diameters less than ten micrometers." To prevent the fine lunar soil particles from being dispersed by air currents, the team prepares the samples as resin-mounted sections—embedding and fixing them in resin, then repeatedly polishing until the sample is exposed. "Since the lunar soil is harder than the resin, it naturally 'protrudes' at the surface during polishing, with minimal overall sample loss during the process," Chen added. Research on lunar soil requires meticulous division of labor and collaborative efforts. "Currently, there are over a dozen laboratories within our institute alone studying the Chang'e-6 samples," Chen said. "Our scanning electron microscope lab is primarily responsible for material composition and morphological analysis. There are also specialized labs for geochemical, geochronological, magnetic, and mechanical analysis, among others." It is precisely this coordinated, multi-technique approach that is gradually deciphering the scientific secrets within the far side "mystery box." In March of this year, the achievement "Chang'e-6 Samples Reveal Far Side Evolution History and Giant Impact Effects for the First Time" was selected as one of China's Top 10 Scientific Advances for 2025. Chen Yi outlined three pioneering discoveries from this work: First, it established the history of early large impacts on the Moon, constraining the formation of the oldest and largest impact basin, the South Pole-Aitken basin, to approximately 4.25 billion years ago, and the Apollo basin to about 4.16 billion years ago. Second, it revealed differences in the chemical composition and water content of the lunar mantle—the far side mantle is "drier" with lower water content compared to the near side and shows more depleted strontium and neodymium isotopes, suggesting the South Pole-Aitken giant impact directly altered the properties of the deep lunar mantle. Third, it obtained the first paleomagnetic information from the lunar far side. Analysis of a 2.8-billion-year-old basalt sample indicated that the lunar magnetic field strength rebounded during this period, rather than monotonically decaying as previously thought, posing new scientific questions for lunar evolution research. For over half a century, human models of lunar formation and evolution have heavily relied on data from near-side samples. The samples returned by Chang'e-6 from the lunar far side have, for the first time, provided humanity with the missing half of the lunar puzzle. This series of findings holds significant milestone importance. It not only reveals the evolutionary history of the lunar far side for the first time and clarifies the impact of giant collisions on the deep chemical properties of the Moon but also uses solid evidence to expand the spatial scale of lunar "dichotomy" and challenges the traditional understanding of a "monotonically decaying" lunar magnetic field. This has epoch-making significance in the history of planetary science, marking that China has progressed from "following" to partially "leading" in the field of lunar science research. Currently, related research on the Chang'e-6 samples is still in its early stages, and the story of the Moon is far from complete. What other deep lunar materials ejected by impacts remain unidentified? What crust-mantle structure was reshaped by the South Pole-Aitken giant impact? Was it the "culprit" behind the lunar dichotomy? What is the fundamental reason for the sudden rebound in the lunar paleomagnetic field strength 2.8 billion years ago? "Research on the lunar far side has just turned its first page," Chen Yi said. "As China's deep space exploration advances, there are still Mars and the vaster starry sea awaiting our discovery."
"Liquid-Helium-Free" Technology Reshapes the Global Landscape of Low-Temperature Scanning Probe Microscopy "Liquid helium consumption was 10 liters per day, with operating costs alone reaching two to three thousand yuan, and experiments were frequently interrupted." Standing in the workshop of Zhongke Aikemi (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd. in Huairou Science City, the company's founder, Huan Qing—also a researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Beijing Key Laboratory for Atomic Manufacturing and Vacuum High-End Equipment—recalled the difficulties of relying on imported equipment just a few years ago. What frustrated him more was that foreign suppliers not only arbitrarily raised prices but also had unstable supply, "delaying delivery by a year at will, leaving you with no recourse." This pain of being "strangled" spurred a world-leading original breakthrough. Traditional low-temperature scanning probe microscopes must rely on liquid helium to maintain temperatures below 4 Kelvin (4K = -269.15°C). However, over 95% of China's helium resources are imported, making liquid helium expensive and supply unstable; researchers in second- and third-tier cities often "cannot even purchase liquid helium." International teams had attempted to develop liquid-helium-free scanning probe microscope (SPM) systems, but most adopted a "proximate cooling" approach—mounting the cryocooler directly on the device. "The vibration from the cryocooler is at the micrometer level, while our microscope requires picometer-level stability—a difference of a million times," Huan Qing explained. "Foreign liquid-helium-free SPM products can only cool to 6K, which is too high a temperature, and they are also noisier." Therefore, Huan Qing's team proposed a completely new path: a "remote liquefaction" scheme. They installed the cryocooler in a separate chamber, liquefied helium gas there, and then transported the liquid helium to the SPM chamber via a flexible transfer line, with the gas returning after cooling for re-liquefaction. "The principle sounds simple, but there are numerous intricate technical details," Huan Qing noted. He explained that when the temperature drops below 2K, helium enters a "superfluid" state—with zero flow resistance, its movement generates no friction, "further reducing noise." Ultimately, they achieved maintaining temperatures below 3K for several months or even over half a year using only 10 to 15 liters of helium gas. "Our product achieves lower temperatures and better noise performance than similar foreign equipment," Huan Qing stated. What truly made the team "gain fame overnight" was a case with the University of Science and Technology of China. "At that time, the USTC team faced restrictions in procuring imported equipment. We met them at a conference where they were very anxious, so we decided to let them trial our system," Huan recalled. As a result, using Zhongke Aikemi's closed-cycle liquid-helium-free SPM system, the team successfully captured Raman signals from within three molecules and observed molecular skeletons. Related results have been published in a domestic high-end instrument journal. Subsequently, that team placed orders for multiple sets of the system and collaborated on developing second- and third-generation products. However, during the company's initial registration in 2018, it also faced challenges in product promotion. It was the support from Huairou Science City and Beijing municipality that helped the company overcome the toughest hurdles. A 3-million-yuan project fund from the Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission became a "lifesaver." Huairou District provided special support in talent settlement and site guarantees, allowing this team, which includes PhDs from prestigious German and American universities, to establish roots. Today, the company he founded has become a "hidden champion" in China's high-end scientific instrument sector. Since its establishment, the company has developed over 50 products, which have been promoted and applied in more than 120 research institutes across China. Some products have even been exported to countries including the United States, South Korea, and Singapore. "The research and development of high-end instruments is itself part of fundamental research," Huan Qing emphasized. "The two are closely linked and mutually reinforcing. The principles of high-end instruments are often based on fundamental physics discoveries, and new instruments, in turn, catalyze new discoveries—scanning tunneling microscopy propelled nanotechnology, and cryo-electron microscopy advanced biological research." On the fertile ground of Huairou Science City, leveraging the agglomeration advantage of major science facilities, independent innovation in high-end scientific instruments is injecting strong momentum into scientific and technological self-reliance and self-improvement.
Comments