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AIP conference proceedings

Applications of laser cooling and trapping

Mark A. Kasevich, Kathryn A. Moler, Erling Riis, Elizabeth Sunderman, David S. Weiss, Steven Chu

Published Jan 1, 1991• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Recent work done at Stanford in the manipulation of atoms and particles is summarized. Techniques to further increase our control of neutral particles such as atomic fountains, funnels, and trampolines have been demonstrated. These techniques are now being combined with a new type of velocity selection in order to study atom/surface interactions and to improve the limit on the charge neutrality of atoms. Trapping techniques have also allowed us to manipulate single molecules of DNA in aqueous solution while observing the molecules in fluorescence.

DOI
10.1063/1.40985

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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences•May 13, 1997•1,484 citations
Recent work done at Stanford in the manipulation of atoms and particles is summarized. Techniques to further increase our control of neutral particles such as atomic fountains, funnels, and trampolines have been demonstrated. These techniques are now being combined with a new type of velocity selection in order to study atom/surface interactions and to improve the limit on the charge neutrality of atoms. Trapping techniques have also allowed us to manipulate single molecules of DNA in aqueous solution while observing the molecules in fluorescence.
A variety of powerful techniques to control the position and velocity of neutral particles has been developed. As examples of this new ability, lasers have been used to construct a variety of traps, to cool atoms to temperatures below 3 x 10(-6) kelvin, and to create atomic fountains that may give us a hundredfold increase in the accuracy of atomic clocks. Bacteria can be held with laser traps while they are being viewed in an optical microscope, and organelles within a cell can be manipulated without puncturing the cell wall. Single molecules of DNA can now be stretched out and pinned down in a water solution with optical traps. These new capabilities may soon be applied to a wide variety of scientific questions as diverse as precision measurements of fundamental symmetries in physics and the study of biochemistry on a single molecule basis.
Beams of atoms and molecules (N.F. Ramsey). Momentum exchange between matter and light (S. Stenholm). Quantum effects in atomic optics (D.F. Walls). New laser cooling mechanisms (C. Cohen-Tannoudji). Laser cooling configurations (G. Nienhuis). Velocity-selective coherent population trapping in one and two dimensions (E. Arimondo). Coupled-pendulum model of the forces on three-level atoms (M. Prentiss et al.). Laser cooling and manipulation of atoms and selected applications (S. Chu). Laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms (W.D. Phillips). Search for montional quantization of laser-cooled atoms (R. Gupta, S. Padua, T. Bergeman, H. Metcalf). The low (temperature) road toward Bose-Einstein condensation in optically and magnetically trapped cesium atoms (Ch. Monroe, E. Comell, C. Wieman). Manipulation of atoms by laser light (W. Ertmer). Laser manipulation of helium: the limits of the semi-classical description (A. Aspect et al.). Light manipulation of atoms (V.1. Balykin). Atom traps and atom optics (D.E. Pritchard and W. Ketterle). Electromagnetic traps for, charged and neutral particles (W. Paul). Laser cooling of trapped ions (W.M. Itano et al.). High-resolution atomic spectroscopy of laser-cooled ions (D.J. Wineland et al.).
This important volume contains selected papers and extensive commentaries on laser trapping and manipulation of neutral particles using radiation pressure forces. Such techniques apply to a variety of small particles, such as atoms, molecules, macroscopic dielectric particles, living cells, and organelles within cells. These optical methods have had a revolutionary impact on the fields of atomic and molecular physics, biophysics, and many aspects of nanotechnology.In atomic physics, the trapping and cooling of atoms down to nanokelvins and even picokelvin temperatures are possible. These are the lowest temperatures in the universe. This made possible the first demonstration of Bose–Einstein condensation of atomic and molecular vapors. Some of the applications are high precision atomic clocks, gyroscopes, the measurement of gravity, cryptology, atomic computers, cavity quantum electrodynamics and coherent atom lasers.A major application in biophysics is the study of the mechanical properties of the many types of motor molecules, mechanoenzymes, and other macromolecules responsible for the motion of organelles within cells and the locomotion of entire cells. Unique in vitro and in vivo assays study the driving forces, stepping motion, kinetics, and efficiency of these motors as they move along the cell's cytoskeleton. Positional and temporal resolutions have been achieved, making possible the study of RNA and DNA polymerases, as they undergo their various copying, backtracking, and error correcting functions on a single base pair basis.Many applications in nanotechnology involve particle and cell sorting, particle rotation, microfabrication of simple machines, microfluidics, and other micrometer devices. The number of applications continues to grow at a rapid rate.The author is the discoverer of optical trapping and optical tweezers. With his colleagues, he first demonstrated optical levitation, the trapping of atoms, and tweezer trapping and manipulation of living cells and biological particles.This is the only review volume covering the many fields of optical trapping and manipulation. The intention is to provide a selective guide to the literature and to teach how optical traps really work.
The techniques of optical trapping and manipulation of neutral particles by lasers provide unique means to control the dynamics of small particles. These new experimental methods have played a revolutionary role in areas of the physical and biological sciences. This paper reviews the early developments in the field leading to the demonstration of cooling and trapping of neutral atoms in atomic physics and to the first use of optical tweezers traps in biology. Some further major achievements of these rapidly developing methods also are considered.