Antimatter research is poised for a revolutionary leap towards future applications, such as spectroscopy and imaging for diagnosis. The goal, pursued for decades, was achieved at Cern with AEgIS, one of the active experiments in the Antimatter Factory.
The experiment was conducted on a cloud of positronium, the lightest of atoms, consisting of an electron and its antiparticle, the positron. The cloud was cooled with the new laser, based on an alexandrite crystal and capable of guaranteeing high intensity.