efficient loading of atoms and molecules into traps where they can be used in experiments or atom-based devices for longer periods of time.

Laser cooling relies on the momentum change when an object, such as an atom, absorbs and re-emits a photon (a particle of light). Atoms will be cooled in one dimension if they are illuminated by a pair of counter-propagating laser beams whose frequencies (and energy) are less than the atoms' laser-cooling transition. Light will be preferentially absorbed from the laser