Lasers are known to heat the things up. But if you hit a right resonance, then in this case it appears you can utilize the lasers for cooling the things down.

There is an announcement which comes under either simply “wow” or “counter-intuitive” where scientists working at the Niels Bohr institute of Copenhagen University used the laser for cooling a semiconductor membrane towards a temperature of -269°C.

This research was published in the Nature Physics. It extends a certain known quantum phenomenon towards macroscopic world. The focussed lasers are used from the 1980s for cooling atoms.

The latest research suggests this new innovation in this field. The team from Quantop group of Niels Bohr Institute was keen to attempt a similar technique in macro world.

Eugene Polzik. head professor of Quantop, remarked, “It would mean entirely new possibilities for what is called optomechanics, the interaction between optical radiation … and a mechanical motion.”

The cooling takes place for the single atoms in a unique way. In case the atom moves towards laser, then the photon that strikes the atom would reduce its speed.

Many impacts would decrease its momentum towards near-zero (on which point it will have the temperature of the absolute zero).