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Physical Review A

Deep macroscopic pure-optical potential for laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms

Прудников Олег Николаевич, R. Ya. Ilenkov, A. V. Taǐchenachev, Valeriy I. Yudin, Sergei N Bagaev

Published Oct 9, 2023• 10 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is possible to trap neutral atoms in optical lattices without using magnetic fields, but it is currently difficult to achieve deep trapping potentials in such systems. Here, the authors propose using bichromatic light to induce an optical rectification effect that results in a strong spatial force variance and therefore deep dissipative potentials, demonstrating that such lattices could replace magneto-optical traps in neutral atom cooling and trapping applications.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.108.043107

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It is possible to trap neutral atoms in optical lattices without using magnetic fields, but it is currently difficult to achieve deep trapping potentials in such systems. Here, the authors propose using bichromatic light to induce an optical rectification effect that results in a strong spatial force variance and therefore deep dissipative potentials, demonstrating that such lattices could replace magneto-optical traps in neutral atom cooling and trapping applications.
We show the possibility of implementing a deep dissipative optical lattice for neutral atoms with a macroscopic period. The depth of the lattice can reach magnitudes comparable to the depth of the magneto-optical traps (MOT), while the presence of dissipative friction forces allows for trapping and cooling of atoms. The area of localization of trapped atoms reaches sub-millimeter size, and the number of atoms is comparable to the number trapped in MOT. As an example, we study lithium atoms for which the macroscopic period of the lattice Λ=1.5Λ=1.5Λ=1.5 cm. Such deep optical lattices with a macroscopic period open up possibility for developing effective methods for cooling and trapping neutral atoms without use of magnetic field as an alternative to MOT. This is important for developing compact systems based on cold atoms.
We consider laser cooling and trapping of alkaline-earth and similar atoms in a bichromatic field resonant to a closed optical transition 1S0→1P1 or 1S0→3P1. It is shown that new kinetic effects emerge compared to monochromatic fields, enabling the formation of a deep macroscopic trap capable of capturing and cooling neutral atoms to sub-Doppler temperatures. Such a purely optical macroscopic trap can serve as an alternative to the well-known magneto-optical trap and can be used in applications requiring minimization of the magnetic field in the cold atom cloud region. The obtained results are of interest for the new generation of quantum sensors and optical frequency standards.
We consider a laser cooling and trapping of alkaline-earth and similar atoms in a bichromatic field resonant to a closed optical transition 1S0→ 1P1^1S_0 \to \, ^1P_11S0​→1P1​ or 1S0→ 3P1^1S_0 \to \, ^3P_11S0​→3P1​. It is shown that new kinetic effects emerge compared to monochromatic fields, enabling the formation of a deep macroscopic trap capable of capturing and cooling neutral atoms to sub-Doppler temperatures. Such a purely optical macroscopic trap can serve as an alternative to the well-known magneto-optical trap and can be used in applications requiring minimization of the magnetic field in the cold atom cloud region. The obtained results are of interest for the new generation of quantum sensors and optical frequency standards.
Abstract That the laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms are interrelated has already been said in the introduction to Chapter 5. We shall, therefore, now consider various techniques whereby cold atoms can be trapped. All the known techniques for trapping laser-cooled neutral atoms can be classified according to a few basic methods. These basic methods are optical trapping using the forces of the electric dipole interaction between atoms and laser fields, magnetic trapping based on the use of the forces of the magnetic dipole interaction, mixed magneto-optical trapping using simultaneous interaction between atoms and magnetic and laser fields, and mixed gravitooptical and gravito-magnetic trapping. Traps for neutral atoms can have a wide variety of geometries and dimensions: (a) macroscopic traps with a size of a »λ, (b) microscopic traps with a size of a ≃λ/2, (c) various combinations of macroscopic and microscopic traps (one-, two-, and three-dimensional) in the case of optical lattices, and finally (d) nanoscopic traps with a size of a «λ/2.
Microscopically controlled neutral atoms in optical tweezers and lattices have led to exciting advances in the study of quantum information and quantum many-body systems. The light shifts of atomic levels from the trapping potential in these systems can result in detrimental effects such as fluctuating dipole force heating, inhomogeneous detunings, and inhibition of laser cooling, which limits the atomic species that can be manipulated. In particular, these light shifts can be large enough to prevent loading into optical tweezers directly from a magneto-optical trap. We implement a general solution to these limitations by loading, as well as cooling and imaging the atoms with temporally alternating beams, and present an analysis of the role of heating and required cooling for single atom tweezer loading. Because this technique does not depend on any specific spectral properties, it should enable the optical tweezer platform to be extended to nearly any atomic or molecular species that can be laser cooled and optically trapped.