Manipulating individual atoms

The results of a new experiment by a team from the University of Otago can have huge applications in nanotechnology in the future

In an incredible experiment, a six-member team from the University of Otago, Dunedin (New Zealand), has successfully isolated and observed the interactions of three individual atoms in the process of molecular bonding. This chemical activity was zoomed and recorded on a special camera and it offers unprecedented detail about molecular processes.

The experiment as described in Direct Measurements of Collisional Dynamics in Cold Atom Triads involved trapping and cooling three atoms of rubidium down to nearly absolute zero. The research team consisted of Mikkel Anderson, Luke Reynolds, Marvin Wayland, Eyal Schwartz, Ulrich Ebling and Joachim Brand.  

Rubidium molecules contain two atoms