Laser Cooling

Type: Concept

As of November 2026, Laser Cooling has been mentioned in one podcast episode on Stuff You Should Know (Feb 2026). Explained as using lasers to slow/trap atoms (particle traps), enabling precision measurement and improved atomic clocks.

Laser cooling includes several techniques where atoms, molecules, and small mechanical systems are cooled with laser light. The directed energy of lasers is often associated with heating materials, e.g. laser cutting, so it can be counterintuitive that laser cooling often results in sample temperatures approaching absolute zero. It is routinely used in atomic physics experiments where the laser-cooled atoms are manipulated and measured, or in technologies, such as atom-based quantum computing ar