Cooling and trapping is a set of experimental techniques used to reduce the kinetic energy of particles, typically atoms or ions, and confine them spatially for precision measurements and quantum control. Laser cooling methods, such as Doppler and sub-Doppler cooling, use resonant light to induce momentum exchange that lowers atomic velocities, while magneto-optical traps (MOTs) combine inhomogeneous magnetic fields with polarized light to provide both cooling and restoring forces. Additional mechanisms, including evaporative cooling and optical or electromagnetic trapping potentials, further reduce temperatures toward the quantum degenerate regime, enabling studies of ultracold gases, atomic clocks, quantum simulation, and controlled quantum information processing.
A research team led by Prof. Chang Hong from the National Time Service Center (NTSC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed a strontium optical lattice clock with both frequency stability and systematic uncertainty ...
Optics & Photonics
Jun 12, 2025
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In a new study, physicists at the University of Colorado Boulder have used a cloud of atoms chilled down to incredibly cold temperatures to simultaneously measure acceleration in three dimensions—a feat that many scientists ...
Condensed Matter
Jun 11, 2025
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Adatoms are single atoms that get adsorbed onto the surface of a solid material and are known to hop randomly from one spot to another. In a recent study published in Nature Communications, a group of scientists from Germany ...
Manuel Endres, professor of physics at Caltech, specializes in finely controlling single atoms using devices known as optical tweezers. He and his colleagues use the tweezers, made of laser light, to manipulate individual ...
Quantum Physics
May 22, 2025
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284
A team led by Prof. Zheng Tianlu and Prof. Wei Jiang from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), has developed a novel technique known as All-Optical Atom Trap Trace Analysis.
Earth Sciences
May 16, 2025
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Protons are the basic building blocks of matter. Together with neutrons, they form atomic nuclei. These minute, positively charged particles have an antimatter counterpart, antiprotons. While the latter have a negative charge ...
General Physics
May 14, 2025
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Laser-cooled atomic gases, gases of atoms chilled to temperatures around absolute zero using laser technologies, have proved to be versatile physical platforms to study and control quantum phenomena. When these atomic gases ...
In a major step forward for radiation detection technology, a research team led by Prof. Meng Gang from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has significantly enhanced the performance ...
Condensed Matter
Apr 15, 2025
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Researchers will soon be able to study biological changes at scales and speeds not previously possible to significantly expand knowledge in areas such as disease progression and drug delivery.
Optics & Photonics
Mar 20, 2025
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In a new Nature Communications study, scientists have demonstrated the quantum version of the strong Mpemba effect (sME) in a single trapped ion system.
