When the lasers and mirrors of the LAS&O platform are used to confine hydrogen molecules in space
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In this study published in Physical review Letter, the research team managed to confine molecular hydrogen in an optical cavity - two mirrors facing each other with a laser beam injected between them.
This light trap allows the formation of a standing wave and an increase in light power.
Clément Lauzin, researcher at the Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, head of the LAS&O platform and co-author of the study, uses a simple analogy: “You can imagine the electric field of light forming bumps and troughs, thus generating a potential well, like a valley between two peaks.”
Improving measurement accuracy
Under normal circumstances, spectroscopic measurements are limited by the movement of molecules (the Doppler effect) and by the very short observation time. “If, on the other hand, the molecules are trapped, we can observe them for as long as we want” continues Clément Lauzin. This extended observation time will hopefully allow for increased measurement accuracy, in order to:
Test quantum models in a more stringent way;
Develop molecular clocks with unprecedented precision;
Study chemical reactivity at extremely low temperatures.