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

How to produce very cold Rydberg atoms

Eugeny Korsunsky, Yuri V. Rozhdestvenskii

Published May 6, 1996• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We show that an ensemble of atoms in highly excited states with narrow center-of-mass momentum distribution (cold Rydberg atoms) can be obtained with velocity-selective (pi) - pulses and laser cooling by velocity-selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT). Both methods use three-level cascade systems with the uppermost state being the Rydberg one where the atoms are excited and cooled. Very high fraction of atoms can be cooled to subrecoil temperatures by the use of VSCPT in standing light waves.

DOI
10.1117/12.239817

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Physical Review A•Mar 1, 1996•10 citations
We show that an ensemble of atoms in highly excited states with narrow center-of-mass momentum distribution (cold Rydberg atoms) can be obtained with velocity-selective (pi) - pulses and laser cooling by velocity-selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT). Both methods use three-level cascade systems with the uppermost state being the Rydberg one where the atoms are excited and cooled. Very high fraction of atoms can be cooled to subrecoil temperatures by the use of VSCPT in standing light waves.
One-dimensional velocity-selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT) in a cascade atomic configuration, with the second excited level a Rydberg state, is investigated through numerical calculations. The trapping efficiency for the case of travelling wave lasers is derived from the solution of the optical Bloch equations. For excitation by bichromatic standing waves, the energy-band approach is applied. Although the cooling process is limited by the spontaneous emission decay of the Rydberg state, the coexistence of polarization-gradient cooling and VSCPT in the case of standing waves allows the preparation of the majority of the atomic population in a cold Rydberg state.
ABSTRACT In this work we present an investigation of velocity-selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT) in asym- metric three-level schemes. The light force in such schemes is of an intrinsically transient character and shouldnot be described in a quasiclassical approach. Instead, results of the full quantum-mechanical calculations are presented with emphasis on their meaning to the efficiency of subrecoil laser cooling. 1 INTRODUCTION Laser cooling of neutral atoms has received significant advances by the introduction of velocity-selectivecoherent population trapping ((VSCPT) some years ago.1 Since it leads to atomic temperatures well below therecoil limit, studies of ultracold atoms and atomic interactions may be improved by magnitudes.The effect of VSCPT relies on optical pumping of atoms into a state WNC) which is a trap state for a certaincenter-of-mass velocity vO. This trap state is created by a destructive superposition of atomic states within amultilevel quantum system. Once being in such a state LWNC) the laser light does not interact anymore with theatom which leads to a decoupling with the rest of the system at vo. Atoms located outside this small velocityregion get a chance to be trapped by the momentum diffusion due to spontaneous emission of photons. Aftera sufficient long interaction time nearly all atoms are trapped inside a narrow momentum distribution whichcan be interpreted as cooling. The theoretical and experimental investigation of VSCPT is usually consideredby use of a three-level A-system as shown in Fig.1. Such a system can be found for example in a symmetrical
We show that an imperfection of velocity-selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT) in three-level atoms excited by standing light waves causes a rectified force on cooled atoms. The rectified force as well as the cooling force are calculated both analytically and numerically for and cascade three-level systems. Combination of these forces with the VSCPT mechanism can lead to localization of very cold atoms in potential wells created by the rectified force. This effect should be taken into account in experiments with VSCPT in standing waves, and can be used for realizing superlattices of cold atoms, in particular, cold Rydberg atoms.
In recent years, there has been a great deal of interest in velocity selective coherent population trapping (VSCPT).1 However, since VSCPT occurs via a random walk in momentum space, in order to achieve significant VSCPT in three dimensions, it is necessary to precool and confine atoms dose to the recoil momentum. Shahriar et al.2 recently predicted that this type of cooling and velocity confinement assisted VSCPT can be achieved in one, two, or three dimensions when a Λ-system atom is excited by a pair of blue detuned Raman resonant standing waves, with a phase difference of θ = π/4.
We present a calculation of cooling of Rydberg atoms in bichromatic standing light waves. The atoms in our model are assumed to have a cascade three-level transition scheme, with the second excited level being the Rydberg state. The cooling fields, which also excite the atoms to the Rydberg state, consist of two standing waves whose frequencies are tuned near the two transition frequencies of the cascade atomic system. It is shown that the mechanisms of Sisyphus cooling and velocity-selective coherent population trapping can co-exist in such a configuration, and under certain conditions the majority of the laser-cooled atoms are in the Rydberg state.