Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Lasing from cold ytterbium atoms

Hannes Gothe, Dmitriy Sholokhov, Anna Breunig, Martin Steinel, Jürgen Eschner

Published Nov 23, 2017• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

A few million ytterbium atoms are magneto-optically trapped inside a 5 cm long high-finesse cavity and laterally pumped close to resonance with the narrow $^1$S$_0$ $\to$ $^3$P$_1$ line. Frequency-shifted cavity emission on the same transition is observed and is found to require a threshold pump intensity and atom number; moreover, the emitted light shows a flat $g^{(2)}$ correlation function. These facts indicate lasing action via a two-photon process including the trap light, related to effects previously found in cold Rubidium clouds, but also pronouncedly different. We characterize the conditions and properties of this process and present a model.

Related papers

Threshold and frequency properties of a cold ytterbium laser

Dmitriy Sholokhov, Saran Shaju, Ke Li +2 more

We investigate properties of the lasing action observed on the 1S0--3P1 intercombination transition of ytterbium atoms that are laser-cooled and -trapped inside a high-finesse cavity. The dressing of the atomic states on the 1S0--1P1 transition by the magneto-optical trap (MOT) laser light allows the coupled atom-cavity system to lase, via a two-photon transition, on the same line on which it is pumped. The observation and basic description of this phenomenon was presented earlier by Gothe et al. [Phys. Rev. A 99, 013415 (2019)]. In the current work, we focus on a detailed analysis of the lasing threshold and frequency properties and perform a comparison to our theoretical models.

arXiv:2404.16765•Apr 25, 2024•1 citation

Continuous-wave virtual-state lasing from cold ytterbium atoms

Hannes Gothe, Dmitriy Sholokhov, Anna Breunig +2 more

While conventional lasers are based on gain media with three or four real levels, unconventional lasers including virtual levels and two-photon processes offer new opportunities. We study lasing that involves a two-photon process through a virtual lower level, which we realize in a cloud of cold ytterbium atoms that are magneto-optically trapped inside a cavity. We pump the atoms on the narrow $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{3}P_{1}$ line and generate laser emission on the same transition. Lasing is verified by a threshold behavior of output power vs pump power and atom number, a flat ${g}^{(2)}$-correlation function above threshold, and the polarization properties of the output. In the proposed lasing mechanism the trapping beams create the virtual lower level of the lasing transition. The laser process runs continuously, needs no further repumping, and might be adapted to other atoms or transitions such as the ultranarrow $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{3}P_{0}$ clock transition in ytterbium.

arXiv:1711.08707•Physical Review A•Jan 14, 2019•11 citations

Lasing by driven atoms-cavity system in collective strong coupling regime

Rahul Sawant, S. A. Rangwala

The interaction of laser cooled atoms with resonant light is determined by the natural linewidth of the excited state. An optical cavity is another optically resonant system where the loss from the cavity determines the resonant optical response of the system. The near resonant combination of an optical Fabry-Pérot cavity with laser cooled and trapped atoms couples two distinct optical resonators via light and has great potential for precision measurements and the creation of versatile quantum optics systems. Here we show how driven magneto-optically trapped atoms in collective strong coupling regime with the cavity leads to lasing at a frequency red detuned from the atomic transition. Lasing is demonstrated experimentally by the observation of a lasing threshold accompanied by polarization and spatial mode purity, and line-narrowing in the outcoupled light. Spontaneous emission into the cavity mode by the driven atoms stimulates lasing action, which is capable of operating as a continuous wave laser in steady state, without a seed laser. The system is modeled theoretically, and qualitative agreement with experimentally observed lasing is seen. Our result opens up a range of new measurement possibilities with this system.

arXiv:1705.08075•Scientific Reports•Sep 6, 2017•16 citations

Cold Ytterbium atoms in high-finesse optical cavities: Cavity cooling and collective interactions

T. Valenzuela, Matteo Cristiani, Hannes Gothe +1 more

The quantum behavior of cold matter interacting with photons confined in high-finesse cavities is a subject of high interest for quantum communication, for studying properties of ultra-cold quantum gases, as well as for precision measurements. In particular promising schemes for enhanced laser cooling based on cavity feedback have been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. The paper presents the first results from a cavity QED experiment with ytterbium atoms which is suitable for cavity-QED-based atom-photon interfaces as well as for studying collective excitation of a cold atomic cloud interacting with the standing wave of a resonator, with the perspective of using this system for investigating new cooling mechanisms based on atom-cavity interaction.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe & European Quantum Electronics Conference (CLEO/Europe-EQEC)•Jun 1, 2009•2 citations

Threshold of a Random Laser with Cold Atoms

Luis S. Froufe‐Pérez, William Guerin, Rémi Carminati +1 more

We address the problem of achieving an optical random laser with a cloud of cold atoms, in which gain and scattering are provided by the same atoms. The lasing threshold can be defined using the on-resonance optical thickness b0 as a single critical parameter. We predict the threshold quantitatively, as well as power and frequency of the emitted light, using two different light transport models and the atomic polarizability of a strongly pumped two-level atom. We find a critical b0 on the order of 300, which is within reach of state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments. Interestingly, we find that random lasing can already occur in a regime of relatively low scattering.

arXiv:0812.0266•Physical Review Letters•May 1, 2009•49 citations

Two-color ytterbium magneto-optical trap in a compact dual-chamber setup

Xin Wang, Thilina Muthu-Arachchige, Tangi Legrand +4 more

We present an experimental scheme for producing ultracold ytterbium atoms in a compact dual-chamber setup. A dispenser-loaded two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) using permanent magnets and operating on the broad ${}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{1}{P}_{1}$ singlet transition delivers over ${10}^{7}$ atoms per second through a differential pumping stage into a three-dimensional MOT. The two-color three-dimensional MOT uses the broad singlet transition to accumulate $\ensuremath{\sim}2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ atoms of ${}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ within 2.5 s and subsequently the narrow ${}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{P}_{1}$ intercombination line to cool the atomic cloud to below 10 \textmu{}K. We report optimized parameters for each stage of the atom collection sequence, achieving high transfer efficiency. We find that shelving into the triplet state during the broad-transition MOT almost doubles the number of trapped atoms.

arXiv:2408.03310•Physical Review Applied•Jan 3, 2025•4 citations
A few million ytterbium atoms are magneto-optically trapped inside a 5 cm long high-finesse cavity and laterally pumped close to resonance with the narrow 1^11S0_00​ →\to→ 3^33P1_11​ line. Frequency-shifted cavity emission on the same transition is observed and is found to require a threshold pump intensity and atom number; moreover, the emitted light shows a flat g(2)g^{(2)}g(2) correlation function. These facts indicate lasing action via a two-photon process including the trap light, related to effects previously found in cold Rubidium clouds, but also pronouncedly different. We characterize the conditions and properties of this process and present a model.
We investigate properties of the lasing action observed on the 1S0--3P1 intercombination transition of ytterbium atoms that are laser-cooled and -trapped inside a high-finesse cavity. The dressing of the atomic states on the 1S0--1P1 transition by the magneto-optical trap (MOT) laser light allows the coupled atom-cavity system to lase, via a two-photon transition, on the same line on which it is pumped. The observation and basic description of this phenomenon was presented earlier by Gothe et al. [Phys. Rev. A 99, 013415 (2019)]. In the current work, we focus on a detailed analysis of the lasing threshold and frequency properties and perform a comparison to our theoretical models.
While conventional lasers are based on gain media with three or four real levels, unconventional lasers including virtual levels and two-photon processes offer new opportunities. We study lasing that involves a two-photon process through a virtual lower level, which we realize in a cloud of cold ytterbium atoms that are magneto-optically trapped inside a cavity. We pump the atoms on the narrow $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{3}P_{1}$ line and generate laser emission on the same transition. Lasing is verified by a threshold behavior of output power vs pump power and atom number, a flat g(2){g}^{(2)}g(2)-correlation function above threshold, and the polarization properties of the output. In the proposed lasing mechanism the trapping beams create the virtual lower level of the lasing transition. The laser process runs continuously, needs no further repumping, and might be adapted to other atoms or transitions such as the ultranarrow $^{1}S_{0}\ensuremath{\leftrightarrow}^{3}P_{0}$ clock transition in ytterbium.
The interaction of laser cooled atoms with resonant light is determined by the natural linewidth of the excited state. An optical cavity is another optically resonant system where the loss from the cavity determines the resonant optical response of the system. The near resonant combination of an optical Fabry-Pérot cavity with laser cooled and trapped atoms couples two distinct optical resonators via light and has great potential for precision measurements and the creation of versatile quantum optics systems. Here we show how driven magneto-optically trapped atoms in collective strong coupling regime with the cavity leads to lasing at a frequency red detuned from the atomic transition. Lasing is demonstrated experimentally by the observation of a lasing threshold accompanied by polarization and spatial mode purity, and line-narrowing in the outcoupled light. Spontaneous emission into the cavity mode by the driven atoms stimulates lasing action, which is capable of operating as a continuous wave laser in steady state, without a seed laser. The system is modeled theoretically, and qualitative agreement with experimentally observed lasing is seen. Our result opens up a range of new measurement possibilities with this system.
The quantum behavior of cold matter interacting with photons confined in high-finesse cavities is a subject of high interest for quantum communication, for studying properties of ultra-cold quantum gases, as well as for precision measurements. In particular promising schemes for enhanced laser cooling based on cavity feedback have been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. The paper presents the first results from a cavity QED experiment with ytterbium atoms which is suitable for cavity-QED-based atom-photon interfaces as well as for studying collective excitation of a cold atomic cloud interacting with the standing wave of a resonator, with the perspective of using this system for investigating new cooling mechanisms based on atom-cavity interaction.
We address the problem of achieving an optical random laser with a cloud of cold atoms, in which gain and scattering are provided by the same atoms. The lasing threshold can be defined using the on-resonance optical thickness b0 as a single critical parameter. We predict the threshold quantitatively, as well as power and frequency of the emitted light, using two different light transport models and the atomic polarizability of a strongly pumped two-level atom. We find a critical b0 on the order of 300, which is within reach of state-of-the-art cold-atom experiments. Interestingly, we find that random lasing can already occur in a regime of relatively low scattering.
We present an experimental scheme for producing ultracold ytterbium atoms in a compact dual-chamber setup. A dispenser-loaded two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) using permanent magnets and operating on the broad ${}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{1}{P}_{1}$ singlet transition delivers over 107{10}^{7}107 atoms per second through a differential pumping stage into a three-dimensional MOT. The two-color three-dimensional MOT uses the broad singlet transition to accumulate $\ensuremath{\sim}2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ atoms of 174Yb{}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}174Yb within 2.5 s and subsequently the narrow ${}^{1}{S}_{0}\ensuremath{\rightarrow}{}^{3}{P}_{1}$ intercombination line to cool the atomic cloud to below 10 \textmu{}K. We report optimized parameters for each stage of the atom collection sequence, achieving high transfer efficiency. We find that shelving into the triplet state during the broad-transition MOT almost doubles the number of trapped atoms.