Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

Optical diagnostics of cold (T<1mK) atoms in the magneto-optical trap

Tomasz Brzozowski, Witold Chałupczak, Andrzej Noga, Maria Maczynska, M. Zawada, Jerzy Zachorowski, Wojciech Gawlik, Marian Smoluchowski

Published Oct 6, 2003• 0 citations

Publisher

Abstract

Cooling and trapping neural atoms with laser beams became a standard method of studying atom properties in temperatures close to absolute zero. Precise knowledge of physical parameters of the atomic sample is of prime importance in such studies, particularly the knowledge of the number of trapped atoms, their density and temperature. Diagnostics aiming at determination of these parameters has to be performed optically, mainly with the spectroscopic methods. In this paper, we present basic principles of obtaining ultra-cold atoms and methods used for their diagnostics. Some examples of quantum effects specific for low-temperatures, revealed by these methods, are also demonstrated.

DOI: 10.1117/12.520126

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