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Physica Scripta

Laser cooling and storage of free atoms

Wolfgang A. Ertmer

Published Aug 1, 1987• 5 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Atomic beam cooling by counterpropagating laser light is shown to be a versatile tool in achieving low mean beam velocities and mK "beam temperatures". This cold beam or gas may be further cooled or manipulated by laser light for the needs of deflection, storage and density increase used for high precision spectroscopic experiments or other interesting future possibilities, which will be mentioned.

DOI
10.1088/0031-8949/36/2/020

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Atomic beam cooling by counterpropagating laser light is shown to be a versatile tool in achieving low mean beam velocities and mK "beam temperatures". This cold beam or gas may be further cooled or manipulated by laser light for the needs of deflection, storage and density increase used for high precision spectroscopic experiments or other interesting future possibilities, which will be mentioned.
Atomic-beam sodium atoms were slowed to zero or negative velocities by counterpropagating laser radiation which was frequency chirped with precise electro-optic modulation techniques. The resulting "gas cloud" had a temperature below 50 mK and a density above 106{10}^{6}106 atoms/cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3. We mention future possibilities in atom slowing, deflection, and storage.
Laser cooling and laser manipulation of free neutral atoms have reached a level of sophistication not foreseen just a few years ago. This concerns trapping of neutral atoms at μK temperatures as well as the precise preparation of extreme dense and ultra cold atomic beams. These techniques offer plenty of new experiments answering basic physical questions or allowing totally new levels of precision. The following article will explain, how to prepare such cold beams and it will demonstrate the resulting possibilities for a Ramsey spectrometer at the intercombination line of magnesium. Furthermore first results with this spectrometer set up as magnesium atom interferometer will be presented.
Analysis of the possiblity of cooling, trapping, and storage of atoms in the resonant field of a laser standing wave is presented. Under certain regimes of frequency scanning the laser radiation can cool atoms in low-pressure gas to the temperature T ≃ 10−4−10−3 K. Because of gradient force effects, cooled atoms will be held in the light field for a long time. Joint cooling and storage of atoms in a resonant light field is important for spectroscopic studies with an extremely high sensitivity and resolution.
Summary form only given. Techniques for cooling and trapping atoms now provide unique capabilities for the manipulation of atoms. In particular, they make possible very low temperatures, extraordinarily high atomic phase space densities, and long perturbation-free observation times. These capabilities enable one to carry out many new measurements on atoms with great precision and/or in entirely new regimes of temperature and density. This tutorial will concentrate primarily on the practical aspects of how to apply current laser cooling and trapping techniques. This will include descriptions of the various techniques and their capabilities, as well as a discussion of tradeoffs between price, complexity, and various performance parameters. Finally, I will briefly discuss how these techniques are applied in a number of specific cases including cold collisions, precision measurements including atomic clocks, atom interferometry, collecting radioactive isotopes, and the creation of Bose-Einstein condensates.
The development of laser cooling has an important impact on many aspects of atomic physics and quantum optics. The efforts to understand the various types of force exerted on atoms by laser light have led to some interesting physics and it is now possible for extremely cold clouds of atoms to be produced, which can be confined in atom traps or formed into very monoenergetic atomic beams. There are many new possibilities to explore in this ultra-cold regime where quantum effects are significant, in addition to the potential for great improvements in precision measurements made by r.f. and laser spectroscopy.