Looking for calm? Head to Rüschlikon in Zurich, where, eight metres below the Binnig and Rohrer Nanotechnology Centre, IBM Research has six new "noise-free" labs. "Their purpose is to enable research at the scale of single molecules and atoms," says Emanuel Lörtscher, a nanoscale electronics researcher and the designer of the lab. "At this scale, disturbances -matter." The lab doesn't just cancel out sound, but also electromagnetic radiation, vibrations from the ground, temperature and humidity, all of which can affect experiments. "These are varieties of noise -- it's not just acoustic noise," says Lörtscher, who started designing the lab five years ago.
Three pairs of Helmholtz coils provide an active cancellation system and purpose-designed air-conditioning controls -temperature to + or -0.01°C. Lörtscher built two prototype labs before completing the final six in early 2011 -- it took the next two years to set up the ultra-precise equipment. "All the details, they really matter," Lörtscher says. "If you lose a magnetic piece inside the lab, you screw up the whole magnetic-field compensation."