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Annual Meeting Optical Society of America

Two Simultaneous Cooling Processes in "Optical Molasses"

Yaakov Shevy, D. S. Weiss, P. J. Ungar, Erling Riis, Steven Chu

Published Jan 1, 1988• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have resolved a bimodal velocity distribution in Na atoms cooled in "optical molasses". We take this behavior as evidence for two distinct cooling mechanisms.
DOI
10.1364/oam.1988.pdp12

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Optical molasses is a three-dimensional (3-D) configuration of laser beams used to laser-cool and to viscously confine neutral atoms. Atoms laser cooled in optical molasses reach temperatures much lower than the limit given by the original theories of laser cooling based on the Doppler effect. This cooling below the Doppler-cooling limit is now seen as being due to new laser cooling mechanisms not considered in the original theories. The dependence of the atomic temperature on parameters such as laser intensity and detuning shows good agreement between calculations performed in 1-D and experiments performed in 3-D. For cooling of Na and Cs atoms, the lowest observed temperatures correspond to rms velocities between three and four times the single photon recoil velocity. For Cs the temperature is 2.5 ± 0.6 μK and is the lowest temperature ever measured for 3-D cooling.