AWhat changed
Anderegg and colleagues showed that laser cooling could remain effective while calcium monofluoride molecules were held by light in an optical dipole trap. Simultaneous cooling increased the number loaded by up to a factor of five, and a heating-and-recooling test brought the trapped sample back to about 60 microkelvin.
Scientific scope
Anderegg and colleagues showed that laser cooling could remain effective while calcium monofluoride molecules were held by light in an optical dipole trap. Simultaneous cooling increased the number loaded by up to a factor of five, and a heating-and-recooling test brought the trapped sample back to about 60 microkelvin. The reported sample contained about 150 molecules, far from quantum degeneracy. Density estimates depend on a thermal model of the trap. The experiment concerns the stated molecular species and apparatus, not universal cooling of arbitrary molecules.
Evidence
The linked original works support the scoped statement and contribution attribution. WRS has not independently replayed experiments or reconstructed a full mathematical proof. The reported sample contained about 150 molecules, far from quantum degeneracy. Density estimates depend on a thermal model of the trap. The experiment concerns the stated molecular species and apparatus, not universal cooling of arbitrary molecules.
Contributors
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