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.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.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-OpticsJun 2, 19960 citations

Laser Cooling and Trapping

Springer eBooksDec 12, 20052 citations

Motional ground-state cooling of single atoms in state-dependent optical tweezers

Christian Hölzl, Aaron Götzelmann, M. Wirth +3 more

Laser cooling of single atoms in optical tweezers is a prerequisite for neutral atom quantum computing and simulation. Resolved sideband cooling comprises a well-established method for efficient motional ground-state preparation, but typically requires careful cancellation of light shifts in so-called magic traps. Here, we study a novel laser cooling scheme which overcomes such constraints, and applies when the ground state of a narrow cooling transition is trapped stronger than the excited state. We demonstrate our scheme, which exploits sequential addressing of red sideband transitions via frequency chirping of the cooling light, at the example of $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ atoms and report ground-state populations compatible with recent experiments in magic tweezers. The scheme also induces light-assisted collisions, which are key to the assembly of large atom arrays. Our work enriches the toolbox for tweezer-based quantum technology, also enabling applications for tweezer-trapped molecules and ions that are incompatible with resolved sideband cooling conditions.Laser cooling of single atoms in optical tweezers is a prerequisite for neutral atom quantum computing and simulation. Resolved sideband cooling comprises a well-established method for efficient motional ground-state preparation, but typically requires careful cancellation of light shifts in so-called magic traps. Here, we study a novel laser cooling scheme which overcomes such constraints, and applies when the ground state of a narrow cooling transition is trapped stronger than the excited state. We demonstrate our scheme, which exploits sequential addressing of red sideband transitions via frequency chirping of the cooling light, at the example of $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ atoms and report ground-state populations compatible with recent experiments in magic tweezers. The scheme also induces light-assisted collisions, which are key to the assembly of large atom arrays. Our work enriches the toolbox for tweezer-based quantum technology, also enabling applications for tweezer-trapped molecules and ions that are incompatible with resolved sideband cooling conditions.

arXiv:2302.03940Physical Review ResearchAug 9, 202324 citations

Laser Cooling and Trapping

Harold J. Metcalf, P. van der Straten

Graduate texts in contemporary physicsJan 1, 19991,303 citations

^{88}\mathrm{Sr}

atoms and report ground-state populations compatible with recent experiments in magic tweezers. The scheme also induces light-assisted collisions, which are key to the assembly of large atom arrays. Our work enriches the toolbox for tweezer-based quantum technology, also enabling applications for tweezer-trapped molecules and ions that are incompatible with resolved sideband cooling conditions.