The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has decided to award the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly to Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, and William D. Phillips. They have developed methods of using laser light to cool gases to the ľK temperature range and keeping the chilled atoms floating or captured in different kinds of "atom traps". The laser light functions as a thick liquid, dubbed optical molasses, in which the atoms are slowed down. Individual atoms can be studied there with very great accuracy and their inner structure can be determined. As more and more atoms are captured in the same volume a thin gas forms, and its properties can be studied in detail. The new methods of investigation that the Nobel Laureates have developed have contributed greatly to increasing our knowledge of the interplay between radiation and matter. In particular, they have opened the way to a deeper understanding of the quantum-physical behaviour of gases at low temperatures. The methods may lead to the design of more precise atomic clocks for use in, e.g., space navigation and accurate determination of position. A start has also been made on the design of atomic interferometers with which, e.g., very precise measurements of gravitational forces can be made, and atomic lasers, which may be used in the future to manufacture very small electronic components. Date Person Contribution 1902 Hendrik Lorentz Pieter Zeeman influence of magnetism on radiation 1907 A.A. Michelson spectroscopic investigations 1911 Wilheml Wien displacement law for blackbody radiation 1913 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes low-temperature physics investigations 1918 Max Planck discovery of the elementary quanta 1921 Albert Einstein contributions to theoretical physics 1922 Neils Bohr atomic structure and radiation 1925 James Franck Gustav Hertz confirmation of quantum theory 1932 Werner Heisenberg creation of quantum mechanics 1964 N.G. Basov A.M. Prokhorov Charles Townes laser-maser principles 1981 Nicolaas Bloembergen Arthur Schawlow laser spectroscopy applications 1989 Hans Georg Dehmelt Wolfgang Paul Norman Ramsey methods to isolate atoms and subatomic particles for study development of the atomic clock 1997 Steven Chu Claude Cohen-Tannoudji William D. Phillips atom trapping via laser cooling general | basic idea | nobel prize | diode laser cooling | more about lasers