Atom-Trapping Tractor Beam

Oct-31-18 A tractor beam able to trap atoms could pave the way to new forms of communications or sensing technologies.

The new tractor beam, created by a team from the University of Adelaide, relies on invisible infrared light to ‘grab’ cold rubidium atoms suspended in a vacuum chamber. When the light interacts with the atoms, the change in energy causes the atoms to be drawn into the most intense area of light—in this case, the middle of the optical fiber emitting the beam.

According to lead researcher Dr. Philip Light, “What is really exciting is that now we have the possibility to do quantum experiments on these trapped atoms. Our first experiments intend to use these stored atoms as elements of a quantum memory. We hope that our work may eventually form part of absolutely secure communications channel that is of obvious high interest to defense, intelligence and industry.”

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[CO.UK]
[ADELAIDE.EDU.AU]

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