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Bulletin of the Russian Academy of Sciences Physics

Limits of Laser Cooling of Light Alkali Metals in a Polychromatic Light Field

R. Ya. Ilenkov, Прудников Олег Николаевич, А. В. Тайченачев, Valeriy I. Yudin

Published Jul 1, 2024• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract A model was developed for laser cooling of alkali atoms in a polychromatic field, considering the real structure of atomic levels. The model was tested by the example of the 6 Li atom. The minimum achievable temperatures of laser cooling of light alkali atoms were studied for different polarizations of the light field components, and the possibility of cooling below the Doppler limit was shown.

DOI
10.1134/s1062873824707037

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Abstract A model was developed for laser cooling of alkali atoms in a polychromatic field, considering the real structure of atomic levels. The model was tested by the example of the 6 Li atom. The minimum achievable temperatures of laser cooling of light alkali atoms were studied for different polarizations of the light field components, and the possibility of cooling below the Doppler limit was shown.
Abstract The kinetics of 6Li atoms in a bichromatic laser field exciting transitions on D2 and D1 lines is investigated. The model takes into account the complex real structure of energy levels of 6Li (including the Zeeman degeneracy) as well as the nonuniform spatial polarization of the laser field. It is found that detuning and the polarization configuration of the light field component of the resonant D2 line of the 6Li atom are of fundamental importance for laser cooling. The possibility of cooling of atoms below the Doppler limit is demonstrated.
The kinetics of6Li atoms in a bichromatic laser field exciting transitions on D2 and D1 lines is investigated. The model takes into account the complex real structure of energy levels of6Li (including the Zeeman degeneracy) as well as the nonuniform spatial polarization of the laser field. It is found that detuning and the polarization configuration of the light field component of the resonant D2 line of the6Li atom are of fundamental importance for laser cooling. The possibility of cooling of atoms below the Doppler limit is demonstrated.
Abstract The efficiency of the polarisation mechanisms of laser cooling of atoms is analysed using narrow optical transitions for which the recoil energy is greater than or comparable to the natural line width. By the example of atoms with the J g = 1 → J e = 2 optical transition (J g and J e are the total angular momenta of the ground and excited states) in the resonant light fields of σ + – σ – and lin⊥lin configurations, the analysis of the minimum achievable energies of laser-cooled atoms is performed. It is shown that the polarisation mechanisms of laser cooling under conditions of a significant influence of recoil effects become less efficient and do not lead to average kinetic energies of an ensemble of atoms below the Doppler limit.
A review is presented of some of the principal techniques of laser cooling and trapping that have been developed during the past 20 years. Its approach is primarily experimental, but its quantitative descriptions are consistent in notation with most of the theoretical literature. It begins with a simplified introduction to optical forces on atoms, including both cooling and trapping. Then its three main sections discuss its three selected features, (1) quantization of atomic motion, (2) effects of the multilevel structure of atoms, and (3) the effects of polychromatic light. Each of these features is an expansion in a different direction from the simplest model of a classical, two-level atom moving in a monochromatic laser field.
Laser cooling dynamics of neutral atoms with a closed optical transition Jg → Je in light fields with nonuniform polarization formed by counterpropagating waves with linear, circular or elliptical polarization was considered. For the case of finite interaction time of atoms with light field both mechanisms of Doppler and Sub-Doppler laser cooling affected on atoms in ensemble having different velocities were taken into account. We get qualitative relations on a base of numerical analysis in a frame of quasiclassical treatment of laser cooling. These relations allow to define optimal parameters of cooling waves, i.e. polarization, detuning from atomic resonance and intensity of light waves for the most rapid and dip laser cooling from initially wide momentum distribution for finite interaction time of atoms with laser field
A theoretical analysis is given for one-dimensional laser cooling below the Doppler limit of J=1/2 ground-state atoms. The laser field consists of a pair of counterpropagating, linearly polarized, low-power beams, whose polarization directions differ by an angle \ensuremath{\theta} (0\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\le}\ensuremath{\pi}/2). For \ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\ll}1, the effective optical-pumping time is shown to increase strongly near the nodes of the standing wave, and the cooling force can be much larger than that for \ensuremath{\theta}=\ensuremath{\pi}/2. Moreover, for \ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\ll}1, it can be shown that the stimulated part of the atomic diffusion is reduced considerably as compared with that for \ensuremath{\theta}=\ensuremath{\pi}/2. As a consequence it is possible to achieve an equilibrium atomic distribution that, for \ensuremath{\theta}\ensuremath{\ll}1, is characterized by a mean kinetic energy that is lower than that predicted to occur for \ensuremath{\theta}=\ensuremath{\pi}/2. The equilibrium velocity distribution is not necessarily Maxwellian, and thus the temperature of the atomic ensemble may not be well defined. The achievable kinetic energy is so small that the cooled atoms may be trapped in the vicinity of the laser-field nodes.