Artist’s impression showing the experimental setup. The atoms are held in place with laser beams and the ion with electric fields. The collisions between the atoms and the ion enter the quantum regime as the ion cools down.
Artist's impression showing the experimental setup. The atoms are held in place with laser beams and the ion with electric fields. The collisions between the atoms and the ion enter the quantum regime as the ion cools down. Over the past years, physicists have developed techniques to create extremely cold atoms and ions. These ultra-cold particles have many uses; for example, they can be used as building blocks for quantum computers and highly precise clocks. Ideally, for such applications, one would also have mixtures of very cold atoms and ions at one's disposal, but so far it had only been possible to cool down the separate types of particles to the required temperatures. A group of UvA-physicists, including Thomas Feldker, has now succeeded in creating such an ultra-cold mixture.
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
