Looks like the creators of Batman weren't too far off with the supervillain Mr. Freeze: in the same vein as the weapon the ice-blasting antagonist carries, scientists at the University of Washington have created a laser that can refrigerate water.
As noted by a press statement released by the university, lasers have typically been used as a heat-emitting tool, rather than a coolant, since they were first invented in 1960; inasmuch to this, the project the UW researchers undertook presented a bit of a challenge.
"Few people have thought about how they could use this technology to solve problems because using lasers to refrigerate liquids hasn't been possible before," said Peter Pausauzkie, a UW assistant professor and one of the leading authors on the paper that published their findings.
To make that self-same concept a reality, the UW scientists used an infrared laser, which has a more successful rate when it comes to biological implementation. The infrared laser then honed in on a nanocrystal placed in a drop of water. Subsequently, the laser zeroed in on the nanocrystal, whose atoms responded to the laser's light by soaking up its photons.
"The real challenge of the project was building an instrument and devising a method capable of determining the temperature of these nanocrystals using signatures of the same light that was used to trap them," said Paden Roder, another author of the paper and recently-graduated UW doctorate student.
When the nanocrystal released the laser light's photons, it created more energy than it had absorbed in the first place; upon the energy release, any remaining significant heat the crystal contained was pushed out, leaving a drop of perfectly-refrigerated water.
While the team's study can help scientists better understand the ways in which molecules and atoms function, Pausauzkie also expressed the general utility of a refrigerating laser: "We are interested in the ideas other scientists or businesses might have for how this might impact their basic research or bottom line."
Via: Slashgear
