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National Science Review

How cold atoms got hot: an interview with William Phillips

Philip Ball

Published Nov 9, 2015• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract William Phillips of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in developing laser methods for cooling and trapping atoms. Interactions between the light field and the atoms create what is dubbed an ‘optical molasses’ that slows the atoms down, thereby reducing their temperature to within a fraction of a degree of absolute zero. These techniques allow atoms to be studied with great precision, for example measuring their resonant frequencies for light absorption very accurately, so that these frequencies may supply very stable timing standards for atomic clocks. Besides applications in metrology, such cooling methods can also be used to study new fundamental physics. The 1997 Nobel award was widely considered to be a response to the first observation in 1995 of pure Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC), in which a collection of bosonic atoms all occupy a single quantum state. This quantum-mechanical effect only becomes possible at very low temperatures, and the team that achieved it, working at JILA operated jointly by the University of Colorado and NIST, used the techniques devised by Phillips and others. Since then, cold-atom physics has branched in many directions, among them being attempts to make a quantum computer (which would use logic operations based on quantum rules) from ultracold trapped atoms and ions. ‘National Science Review’ spoke with Phillips about the development and future potential of the field.

DOI
10.1093/nsr/nwv075

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Abstract William Phillips of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics for his work in developing laser methods for cooling and trapping atoms. Interactions between the light field and the atoms create what is dubbed an ‘optical molasses’ that slows the atoms down, thereby reducing their temperature to within a fraction of a degree of absolute zero. These techniques allow atoms to be studied with great precision, for example measuring their resonant frequencies for light absorption very accurately, so that these frequencies may supply very stable timing standards for atomic clocks. Besides applications in metrology, such cooling methods can also be used to study new fundamental physics. The 1997 Nobel award was widely considered to be a response to the first observation in 1995 of pure Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC), in which a collection of bosonic atoms all occupy a single quantum state. This quantum-mechanical effect only becomes possible at very low temperatures, and the team that achieved it, working at JILA operated jointly by the University of Colorado and NIST, used the techniques devised by Phillips and others. Since then, cold-atom physics has branched in many directions, among them being attempts to make a quantum computer (which would use logic operations based on quantum rules) from ultracold trapped atoms and ions. ‘National Science Review’ spoke with Phillips about the development and future potential of the field.
Forty years ago, twenty years after the discovery of the laser, physicists were developing laser cooling methods for ions trapped in electromagnetic fields.From the 1980s onwards, these techniques were refined and extended to atoms, thanks to the audacity and inventiveness of a generation of pioneering researchers.Actually, it was necessary to succeed simultaneously in trapping and cooling samples of atomic gases in a vacuum at a distance from any wall.Spectacular results followed and extraordinarily low temperatures were quickly reached, very close to absolute zero.The field of "cold atoms" was born, rewarded by successive Nobel prizes, first of which was awarded in 1997 to William D. Phillips, Steven Chu and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, last in 2022 to Alain Aspect.Gaseous samples of a few thousand to a few billion atoms can be prepared at a few millionths of a degree above absolute zero, which means that the particles move at extremely low speed, of the order of centimetres per second.At these extreme temperatures, the behaviour of matter changes and its properties can only be described using quantum mechanics and the wave properties of particles.New physical phenomena have been discovered and innovations have followed the theoretical and experimental progress of the research.Initially imagined as a wonderful method for perfecting atomic physics, cold atoms have gradually proved to be powerful tools for research in cross-cutting fields of physics, such as condensed matter and even high-energy physics.These atoms are now referred to as 'quantum gases' at such low temperatures that their collective behaviour is modified by the laws of quantum mechanics.
The past few years have seen remarkable developments in the ability to control atomic motion by optical techniques. Among the key tools that have been developed for this purpose are the techniques of laser cooling, the significance of which was recognized by the award of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics to Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and William Phillips. These techniques have made it possible to cool atoms to temperatures lower than have been produced in any other physical system - around 10(-8) degrees Kelvin above absolute zero - and to confine those in traps for extended periods of observation.
NOBEL PRIZESPhysicists nowadays can cool, trap, bounce, and toss atoms with the facility of microscopic jugglers. That facility is due in no small part to techniques developed by three masters of atomic manipulation--Steven Chu of Stanford University, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji of the A‰cole Normale SupA©rieure in Paris, and William Phillips of the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Maryland--who have been awarded the 1997 Nobel Prize in physics. Over the last decade, they showed how atoms could be chilled to millionths of a degree above absolute zero and trapped by bombarding them with beams of laser light. The work has proved invaluable for basic physics and has also led to dozens of applications. For more information on this prize, see the [Nobel Foundation Web site][1]. [1]: http://www.nobel.se/announcement-97/physics97.html
Physicists know how to produce gases at a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero. The cooling methods apply not only to atoms but also to ions and molecules. This field of research has three times been awarded the Nobel Prize. The field experienced remarkable growth when experimentalists learned how to vary at will the interactions between particles, trapping them with optical tweezers or in optical gratings with adjustable geometry. Artificial crystals made of atoms or molecules can be built to simulate the structure of matter and elucidate some of its magnetic properties, hopefully contributing to the understanding of high-temperature superconductivity. The phenomenon of quantum entanglement is the basis for new devices for the storage and transmission of quantum information. Spectacular progress is constantly being made in metrology. For example, ultra-cold atom or ion clocks measure time to better than one second over the lifetime of the Universe. New types of industrial gravimeters and gyroscopes are improving the sensitivity of seismology and navigation in space. In addition, the extreme precision of the measurements allows tests of the fundamental laws of physics, such as quantum electrodynamics, Lorentz invariance or possible variations of the fundamental constants. The field of ultra-cold particles has now reached the stage where it provides insights in the fields of condensed matter, chemistry and even cosmology.
Physicists know how to produce gases at a few billionths of a degree above absolute zero. The cooling methods apply not only to atoms but also to ions and molecules. This field of research has three times been awarded the Nobel Prize. The field experienced remarkable growth when experimentalists learned how to vary at will the interactions between particles, trapping them with optical tweezers or in optical gratings with adjustable geometry. Artificial crystals made of atoms or molecules can be built to simulate the structure of matter and elucidate some of its magnetic properties, hopefully contributing to the understanding of high-temperature superconductivity. The phenomenon of quantum entanglement is the basis for new devices for the storage and transmission of quantum information. Spectacular progress is constantly being made in metrology. For example, ultra-cold atom or ion clocks measure time to better than one second over the lifetime of the Universe. New types of industrial gravimeters and gyroscopes are improving the sensitivity of seismology and navigation in space. In addition, the extreme precision of the measurements allows tests of the fundamental laws of physics, such as quantum electrodynamics, Lorentz invariance or possible variations of the fundamental constants. The field of ultra-cold particles has now reached the stage where it provides insights in the fields of condensed matter, chemistry and even cosmology.
Of the many applications of lasers, the one with possibly the most dramatic impact on fundamental physics is laser cooling and trapping: the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded for laser cooling in 1997. Laser cooling allows one to obtain samples of atoms essentially at rest, with temperatures in the micro-Kelvin region being routine. At such low temperatures, it becomes easy to trap or move atoms with modest electromagnetic forces and a whole new class of experiments previously confined to the realm of fantasy becomes possible. The high brightness of masers and lasers makes it possible to access a regime of atomic excitation for which Einstein’s rate equations are inadequate. Three-dimensional optical molasses using counter-propagating laser beams along three mutually orthogonal directions was first observed in 1985 by Chu et al. The Sisyphus mechanism works well for atoms that are already cold and has a smaller capture velocity than conventional Doppler cooling.