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Contemporary Physics

Laser cooling and trapping of atoms

Christopher J. Foot

Published Nov 1, 1991• 41 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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.

DOI
10.1080/00107519108223712

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Low temperature physics without a cryostat: laser cooling and trapping of atoms

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In recent years, there has been significant interest in the laser manipulation of neutral atoms, and specifically in the use of light fields to manipulate not only the internal but also the external coordinates of an atom. Among the most dramatic results of this work have been the production of dense ultra-cold samples of trapped neutral atoms. These samples have been used to expand the horizons of fundamental physics and have made possible significant advancements in metrology. Furthermore, the ability to manipulate atomic motion with light has helped to create entirely new fields of research such as atom optics where matter wave analogues of light wave systems are investigated and optical where light is used to create a periodic array of atoms similar to crystals.

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Laser cooling and trapping as an enabling technology

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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.

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Conclusion

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This conclusion presents some closing remarks on the concepts discussed in the book. Nowadays by using the mechanical forces exerted on atoms by light it is possible to achieve both cooling and trapping of atoms. The minimum temperature of atoms in laser cooling experiment and maximum density of atoms in the atomic traps permit to orient the latest research works towards ambitious goals as a realization of Bose-Einstein condensation of cold atoms, atomic interferometry, improvement of atomic clock. Another interesting possibility of using light pressure forces is the development of a new kind of optics — the optics of neutral atomic beams. This book has discussed a number of recent experiments which have demonstrated the possibility to develop several elements of this optics: atom optics with laser light. .

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Simulation of Laser Cooling and Trapping in Engineering Applications

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An advanced computer code is undergoing development for numerically simulating laser cooling and trapping of large numbers of atoms. The code is expected to be useful in practical engineering applications and to contribute to understanding of the roles that light, atomic collisions, background pressure, and numbers of particles play in experiments using laser-cooled and -trapped atoms. The code is based on semiclassical theories of the forces exerted on atoms by magnetic and optical fields. Whereas computer codes developed previously for the same purpose account for only a few physical mechanisms, this code incorporates many more physical mechanisms (including atomic collisions, sub-Doppler cooling mechanisms, Stark and Zeeman energy shifts, gravitation, and evanescent-wave phenomena) that affect laser-matter interactions and the cooling of atoms to submillikelvin temperatures. Moreover, whereas the prior codes can simulate the interactions of at most a few atoms with a resonant light field, the number of atoms that can be included in a simulation by the present code is limited only by computer memory. Hence, the present code represents more nearly completely the complex physics involved when using laser-cooled and -trapped atoms in engineering applications. Another advantage that the code incorporates is the possibility to analyze the interaction between cold atoms of different atomic number. Some properties that cold atoms of different atomic species have, like cross sections and the particular excited states they can occupy when interacting with each other and light fields, play important roles not yet completely understood in the new experiments that are under way in laboratories worldwide to form ultracold molecules. Other research efforts use cold atoms as holders of quantum information, and more recent developments in cavity quantum electrodynamics also use ultracold atoms to explore and expand new information-technology ideas. These experiments give a hint on the wide range of applications and technology developments that can be tackled using cold atoms and light fields. From more precise atomic clocks and gravity sensors to the development of quantum computers, there will be a need to completely understand the whole ensemble of physical mechanisms that play a role in the development of such technologies. The code also permits the study of the dynamic and steady-state operations of technologies that use cold atoms. The physical characteristics of lasers and fields can be time-controlled to give a realistic simulation of the processes involved such that the design process can determine the best control features to use. It is expected that with the features incorporated into the code it will become a tool for the useful application of ultracold atoms in engineering applications. Currently, the software is being used for the analysis and understanding of simple experiments using cold atoms, and for the design of a modular compact source of cold atoms to be used in future research and development projects. The results so far indicate that the code is a useful design instrument that shows good agreement with experimental measurements (see figure), and a Windows-based user-friendly interface is also under development.

•Jan 1, 2005•0 citations

Manipulation of Atoms by Laser Light

Wolfgang A. Ertmer

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.

Physica Scripta•Jan 1, 1992•2 citations
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.
In recent years, there has been significant interest in the laser manipulation of neutral atoms, and specifically in the use of light fields to manipulate not only the internal but also the external coordinates of an atom. Among the most dramatic results of this work have been the production of dense ultra-cold samples of trapped neutral atoms. These samples have been used to expand the horizons of fundamental physics and have made possible significant advancements in metrology. Furthermore, the ability to manipulate atomic motion with light has helped to create entirely new fields of research such as atom optics where matter wave analogues of light wave systems are investigated and optical where light is used to create a periodic array of atoms similar to crystals.
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.
This conclusion presents some closing remarks on the concepts discussed in the book. Nowadays by using the mechanical forces exerted on atoms by light it is possible to achieve both cooling and trapping of atoms. The minimum temperature of atoms in laser cooling experiment and maximum density of atoms in the atomic traps permit to orient the latest research works towards ambitious goals as a realization of Bose-Einstein condensation of cold atoms, atomic interferometry, improvement of atomic clock. Another interesting possibility of using light pressure forces is the development of a new kind of optics — the optics of neutral atomic beams. This book has discussed a number of recent experiments which have demonstrated the possibility to develop several elements of this optics: atom optics with laser light. .
Of the many applications of lasers, the one with possibly the most dramatic impact on fundamental physics is laser cooling and trapping: the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded for laser cooling in 1997. Laser cooling allows one to obtain samples of atoms essentially at rest, with temperatures in the micro-Kelvin region being routine. At such low temperatures, it becomes easy to trap or move atoms with modest electromagnetic forces and a whole new class of experiments previously confined to the realm of fantasy becomes possible. The high brightness of masers and lasers makes it possible to access a regime of atomic excitation for which Einstein’s rate equations are inadequate. Three-dimensional optical molasses using counter-propagating laser beams along three mutually orthogonal directions was first observed in 1985 by Chu et al. The Sisyphus mechanism works well for atoms that are already cold and has a smaller capture velocity than conventional Doppler cooling.
An advanced computer code is undergoing development for numerically simulating laser cooling and trapping of large numbers of atoms. The code is expected to be useful in practical engineering applications and to contribute to understanding of the roles that light, atomic collisions, background pressure, and numbers of particles play in experiments using laser-cooled and -trapped atoms. The code is based on semiclassical theories of the forces exerted on atoms by magnetic and optical fields. Whereas computer codes developed previously for the same purpose account for only a few physical mechanisms, this code incorporates many more physical mechanisms (including atomic collisions, sub-Doppler cooling mechanisms, Stark and Zeeman energy shifts, gravitation, and evanescent-wave phenomena) that affect laser-matter interactions and the cooling of atoms to submillikelvin temperatures. Moreover, whereas the prior codes can simulate the interactions of at most a few atoms with a resonant light field, the number of atoms that can be included in a simulation by the present code is limited only by computer memory. Hence, the present code represents more nearly completely the complex physics involved when using laser-cooled and -trapped atoms in engineering applications. Another advantage that the code incorporates is the possibility to analyze the interaction between cold atoms of different atomic number. Some properties that cold atoms of different atomic species have, like cross sections and the particular excited states they can occupy when interacting with each other and light fields, play important roles not yet completely understood in the new experiments that are under way in laboratories worldwide to form ultracold molecules. Other research efforts use cold atoms as holders of quantum information, and more recent developments in cavity quantum electrodynamics also use ultracold atoms to explore and expand new information-technology ideas. These experiments give a hint on the wide range of applications and technology developments that can be tackled using cold atoms and light fields. From more precise atomic clocks and gravity sensors to the development of quantum computers, there will be a need to completely understand the whole ensemble of physical mechanisms that play a role in the development of such technologies. The code also permits the study of the dynamic and steady-state operations of technologies that use cold atoms. The physical characteristics of lasers and fields can be time-controlled to give a realistic simulation of the processes involved such that the design process can determine the best control features to use. It is expected that with the features incorporated into the code it will become a tool for the useful application of ultracold atoms in engineering applications. Currently, the software is being used for the analysis and understanding of simple experiments using cold atoms, and for the design of a modular compact source of cold atoms to be used in future research and development projects. The results so far indicate that the code is a useful design instrument that shows good agreement with experimental measurements (see figure), and a Windows-based user-friendly interface is also under development.
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.