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arXiv:0909.1949 · Physical Review Letters

Multiphoton Magnetooptical Trap

Saijun Wu, Thomas Plisson, Roger C. Brown, William D. Phillips, J. V. Porto

Published Oct 23, 2009• 28 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We demonstrate a magnetooptical trap (MOT) configuration which employs optical forces due to light scattering between electronically excited states of the atom. With the standard MOT laser beams propagating along the x and y directions, the laser beams along the z direction are at a different wavelength that couples two sets of excited states. We demonstrate efficient cooling and trapping of cesium atoms in a vapor cell and sub-Doppler cooling on both the red and blue sides of the two-photon resonance. The technique demonstrated in this work may have applications in background-free detection of trapped atoms, and in assisting laser cooling and trapping of certain atomic species that require cooling lasers at inconvenient wavelengths.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.103.173003

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We demonstrate a magnetooptical trap (MOT) configuration which employs optical forces due to light scattering between electronically excited states of the atom. With the standard MOT laser beams propagating along the x and y directions, the laser beams along the z direction are at a different wavelength that couples two sets of excited states. We demonstrate efficient cooling and trapping of cesium atoms in a vapor cell and sub-Doppler cooling on both the red and blue sides of the two-photon resonance. The technique demonstrated in this work may have applications in background-free detection of trapped atoms, and in assisting laser cooling and trapping of certain atomic species that require cooling lasers at inconvenient wavelengths.
We demonstrate a magneto-optical trap(MOT) with counter-propagating two-color cooling b(’ams in a cesium6S1/2 — 6P3/2 — 8S!/2(852.3 + 794.6 nm) atomic system. Based on the conventional MOT due entirely to the852.3 nm cooling laser5 s scattering forces, we replace one of the six 852.3 inn cooling beams witli a 794.6 11111 cooling beam. Our two-color MOT can efficiently cool and trap atoms from the red to blue detuning sides of two-photon resonance without pre-cooling. The technique is promising for the direct generation of correlated photon pairs in a two-color MOT based on diamond-configuration four-wave mixing.
A two-color magneto-optical trap (MOT) for trapping cesium (Cs) atoms is experimentally realized. This two-color MOT employs the radiation forces due to photon scattering from the Cs 6P(3/2) F' = 5 - 8S(1/2) F" = 4 excited-state transition, which replaced one pair of the three pairs of cooling/trapping laser beams operating on a single-photon red detuning to the Cs 6S(1/2) F = 4 - 6P(3/2) F' = 5 cycling transition in a standard six-beam Cs MOT, and can cool and trap atoms on both the red-detuning and blue-detuning sides of the two-photon resonance. Employing the two-color MOT, the background-free fluorescence detection of trapped atoms has been demonstrated. This technique will be useful for observation of weak fluorescence signal radiated from single atoms in MOT.
We demonstrate a magneto-optical trap (MOT) with counter-propagating two-color cooling beams in a cesium 6S1/2 6P3/2 8S1/2 (852.3+794.6 nm) atomic system. Based on the conventional MOT due entirely to the 852.3 nm cooling laser’s scattering forces, we replace one of the six 852.3 nm cooling beams with a 794.6 nm cooling beam. Our two-color MOT can efficiently cool and trap atoms from the red to blue detuning sides of two-photon resonance without pre-cooling. The technique is promising for the direct generation of correlated photon pairs in a two-color MOT based on diamond-configuration four-wave mixing.
A novel cesium (Cs) two-color magneto-optical trap (TC-MOT), which partially employs the optical radiation forces due to photon scattering of the 6P3/2 (F'=5) - 7S1/2 (F"=4) excited-state transition in the Cs 6S1/2 - 6P3/2 - 7S1/2 (852 + 1470 nm) ladder-type system, has been proposed and experimentally investigated. One of the three pairs of 852 nm cooling/trapping beams (CTBs) in a conventional Cs MOT is replaced with a pair of the 1470 nm CTBs (type-I) or with one 852 nm CTB plus another counter-propagating 1470 nm CTB (type-II). Both the type-I and type-II Cs TC-MOTs can cool and trap atoms on both the red- and blue-detuning sides of the two-photon resonance. The Cs TC-MOT demonstrated in this work may have applications in the background-free detection of cooled and trapped atoms, and the photon-pair sources compatible with the ensemble-based quantum memory and the long-distance quantum communication via optical fiber.
A 1470 nm+852 nm two-color (TC) cesium (Cs) magneto-optical trap (MOT) with a 6S1/2-6P3/2-7S1/2 ladder-type system is proposed and experimentally investigated. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first report about the 1470 nm+852 nm Cs TC-MOT. One of the three pairs of the 852 nm cooling and trapping beams (CTBs) in a conventional Cs MOT is replaced with a pair of the 1470 nm CTBs. Thus, the TC-MOT partially employs the optical radiation forces from photon scattering of the 6P3/2 (F′=5) −7S1/2 (F′′=4) excited-state transition (1470 nm). This TC-MOT can cool and trap Cs atoms on both the red- and blue-detuning sides of the two-photon resonance. This work may have applications in cooling and trapping of atoms using inconvenient wavelengths and background-free detection of cold and trapped Cs atoms.
Laser cooled and trapped atoms have been the workhorse of atomic physics for the past four decades. The predominant method has been the highly versatile Magneto-Optical Trap. We describe an alternative laser trap involving a simple geometry of collimated laser beams that provides both a velocity and position dependent restoring force such that a dense cloud of cold atoms is formed. This technique produces similar atom number (>106>10^6>106) and density (101010^{10}1010\,atoms/cm3^{3}3) to the Magneto-Optical Trap, albeit with \emph{no magnetic field}. The beam geometry is compatible with conventional sub-Doppler cooling techniques, allowing the trapped cloud to be cooled to <10 μ< 10~μ<10 μK. We demonstrate the validity and robustness of the trap by capturing 87^{87}87Rb atoms directly from the background vapor and provide a theoretical discussion of the underlying principles. This trap has many unique properties that make it highly suitable for quantum sensing, timing, and computing applications as well as a new tool in fundamental science and metrology.