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Molecules Are Magnetically Trapped

NOV 01, 1998
A Harvard University team used a helium buffer gas to cool CaH molecules, and then trap them.

The techniques of magnetic trapping and evaporative cooling of atoms to nanokelvin temperatures have led to Bose–Einstein condensation in alkali atoms and atomic hydrogen and to studies of ultracold atomic collisions. But none of the optical cooling methods has worked for molecules because it hasn’t seemed possible to keep the molecules from being optically pumped into inaccessible states.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 51, Number 11

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