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In an innovative experiment, physicists learned to capture individual atoms.

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A laser-cooled atomic cloud is visible through a microscope chamber. Courtesy: University of Otago

In the first study for quantum physics, scientists at the University of Otago “held” individual atoms in place and observed previously invisible complex atomic interactions.

Many instruments, including lasers, mirrors, a vacuum chamber, and microscopes collected in the Otago physics department, plus a lot of time, energy, and experience, provided an investigation of this quantum process, which until now had been calculated only by statistical averaging of experiments with a large number of atoms.

The experiment improves modern knowledge by offering a previously invisible view of the microscopic world and surprising researchers with results.

“Our method involves the individual capture and cooling of three atoms to a temperature of about one millionth of a Kelvin using highly focused laser beams in a hyper-vacuum chamber the size of a toaster. We slowly combine traps containing atoms to produce controlled interactions and measure them, ”says Associate Professor Mikkel F. Andersen of the Department of Physics, Otago.

When three atoms approach each other, two form a molecule, and they all get hit by the energy released in the process. The microscope camera allows you to enlarge and consider this process.

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Mikkel Andersen (left) and Marvin Weiland in the physics lab. Courtesy: University of Otago

“Two atoms alone cannot form a molecule; chemistry requires at least three. Our work is the first time that this basic process has been studied in isolation, and it turned out that it gave some amazing results that we did not expect to see, ”says Dr. Marvin Weiland, who led the experiment.

For example, researchers were able to see the exact result of individual processes and observed a new process when two atoms left an experiment together. Until now, this level of detail has not been observed in experiments with many atoms.

“By working at this molecular level, we learn more about how atoms collide and react with each other. With development, this technology could provide a way to build and control the individual molecules of certain chemicals, ”adds Weiland.

Associate Professor Andersen admits that the technique and level of detail may be difficult for those outside the world of quantum physics to understand, but he believes that applying this science will be useful in developing future quantum technologies that could affect society in the same way as previous ones. quantum technologies that made it possible to create modern computers and the Internet.

“Research, carried out on a smaller and smaller scale, has served as the basis for most technological developments in recent decades. For example, this is the only reason modern mobile phones have more computing power than supercomputers of the 1980s, and I will be very glad to see how our discoveries will affect technological advances in the future, ”says Associate Professor Andersen.

The results of the experiment showed that the formation of the molecule took much longer than expected compared to other experiments and theoretical calculations, which are currently insufficient to explain this phenomenon. Although researchers propose mechanisms that can explain this discrepancy, they emphasize the need for further theoretical development in the field of experimental quantum mechanics.

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