Doctoral students from the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw, supervised by Dr Mariusz Semczuk, winner of the HOMING program of the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP), received the first in Poland ultracold cesium and potassium atoms. This is a necessary step, enabling the use of ultra-cold atoms for experiments in which the base for describing phenomena becomes quantum, not classical mechanics.

Completing this type of system is a sensation, because Dr Semczuk’s team did it as the first in Poland and as one of three centers in the world (the University of Innsbruck in Austria and the University of Durham, in Great Britain).
Having worked out this unique experimental system, the team opened the door to further experiments using cold atoms, such as the development of new laser cooling methods, thanks to which it will be possible to miniaturize similar systems for applications using cold atoms in quantum technologies.