Quantum mechanics prohibits any quantum system from
achieving a temperature that is equal to absolute zero. However, using Laser cooling, which is a
highly efficient spectroscopic technique, atomic samples could be cooled to
near absolute zero thus bringing them to their lowest achievable quantum energy
state. Scientists have been advancing this technique for decades now and an
important question that arose recently is whether carbon molecules, which are
an integral component of life on earth, could be laser-cooled.
In order to cool down any atom or molecule using a laser the
first step is to understand the mechanism behind the absorption and emission of
light. Knowing this is important because the same process is responsible for
reducing the kinetic energy of the atom/molecule and bringing it to the lowest
possible energy state (look at the figure below demonstrating the process of
Laser cooling).
A team of three researchers has recently published a paper
describing theoretically a new mechanism to laser cool carbon molecules [1].
The trio was able to do it by analyzing the relevant spectroscopic data from UCL’s
ExoMol database which astrophysicists generally use to study exoplanetary
systems. The new mechanism developed by them would supposedly allow the cooling
down of the carbon molecules to temperatures close to that within the
interstellar clouds and in order to study the properties of the molecules more
significantly, they could also be confined using optical tweezers, which are
devices that use light to manipulate microscopic objects like the atom or even
bacterias.
Although the research described in this article has
far-reaching consequences, it is not until the actual experiments are performed
and the results are vindicated that the potential applications of cooling
carbon molecules would be realized significantly since the technical paper is
entirely theoretical in nature. However, the research in its current stage is
still very crucial with regard to the physics and chemistry of this dominant
element.
As pointed out by one of the co-authors, "Carbon molecules could be the bridge between physicists' somewhat esoteric molecules and those that chemists study with more real-life applications".
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