Cold molecules on collision course
(PHYSorg.com Physics)

How do chemical reactions proceed at extremely low temperatures? The answer requires the investigation of molecular samples that are cold, dense, and slow at the same time. Scientists around Dr. Martin Zeppenfeld from the Quantum Dynamics Division of Prof. Gerhard Rempe at the Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics in Garching have now taken an important step in this direction by developing a new cooling method: the so-called `cryofuge` combines cryogenic buffer-gas cooling with a special kind of centrifuge in which rotating electric fields decelerate the pre-cooled molecules down to velocities of less than 20 metres per second.