One method that used to cool molecules to temperatures near absolute zero is laser cooling. In the Doppler cooling process, lasers are used to remove energy from electrons of a given molecule to slow or cool the molecule down. This method has applications in quantum mechanics and is related to particle traps and the Bose–Einstein condensate. All of these methods use a "trap" consisting of lasers pointed at opposite equatorial angles on a specific point in space. The wavelengths from the laser beams eventually hit the gaseous atoms and their outer spinning electrons. This clash of wavelengths decreases the kinetic energy state fraction by fraction to slow or cool the molecules down. Laser cooling has also been used to help improve atomic clocks and atom optics. Ultracold studies are not usually focused on chemical interactions, but rather on fundamental chemical properties.