This article discusses the groundbreaking work of Bill Phillips and his team at NIST in developing techniques for cooling and trapping atoms using magnetic and laser methods. The key achievements include:
1. Magnetic Trapping: In 1985, Phillips and his team created the first magnetic trap for atoms, using two concentric coils to confine sodium atoms. This allowed atoms to be held for longer periods, enabling further experiments.
2. Laser Cooling: Simultaneously, Steven Chu at Bell Labs developed laser cooling techniques using multiple lasers to slow and trap atoms. Phillips’ team later reproduced Chu’s optical molasses experiment, achieving temperatures as low as 40 microkelvin – six times lower than the previously accepted Doppler limit.
3. New Theories: The unexpected results prompted new theories from Chu’s group and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji’s team, leading to even lower temperatures in cesium atoms.
4. Optical Lattices: An accidental discovery in the late 1980s showed atoms confined in an array of microscopic traps formed by interfering laser beams, leading to the development of optical lattices.
These achievements were recognized with the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for Bill Phillips, along with Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Steven Chu, for their contributions to laser cooling and trapping of atoms.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/nist-and-nobel/bill-phillips/nobel-moment-bill-phillips
Keywords: Laser, Cooling, Traps, Temperature, Atoms
