Atomtronics: New View of Cold Atoms Flowing

Physicists routinely exploit the quantum properties of ultracold atomic gases in building powerful sensing devices or in simulating the behavior of other quantum systems. But they still lack a good way to image the flow of cold atoms that are used in these experiments. So a research team has now developed a scanning microscope that has produced the first image of the flow of cold atoms through a microscopic channel. The technique could be essential in imaging and controlling the delicate flow of cold atoms in an emerging technology called atomtronics.