MIT develops faster way to make Bose-Einstein condensates
MIT physicists have used laser confinement to supercool atoms into Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC), a 2001 Physics Nobel-winning discovery. BEC is a quantum state of matter cooled at -273.15ÂºC, which lowers the energy of atoms. Using Raman cooling, the team was able to cool 2,000 atoms and condense 1,400, far more than conventional laser-cooling methods which lose 99% of the atoms.