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Article: Scientists from Bonn cool gas by laser bombardment.
- Article from:
- NewsRx Health
- Article date:
- September 20, 2009
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This release is available in German.
In their experiment the scientists tested a completely new principle of cooling. For this, they used the property that atoms can be stimulated by light. In this process an electron changes from its orbit around the atom's nucleus to an orbit that is further away. However, this is only successful if the incoming light has the appropriate colour. Red light has less energy than blue light. Therefore the 'push' which a red laser gives the electron may not be sufficient for lifting it to a higher orbit.
Atoms in a gas collide with each other regularly. The higher the pressure of the gas is, the more frequent the collisions ...