Laser cooling and trapping / Harold J. Metcalf, Peter van der Straten.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Metcalf, Harold J.

Contributor:

Van der Straten, P.

Series:

Graduate texts in contemporary physics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Laser manipulation (Nuclear physics).

Laser cooling.

Physical Description:

xvi, 323 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York : Springer, [1999]

Summary:

Laser cooling allows one to slow atoms to roughly the speed of a mosquito and to control their motion with unprecedented precision. This elegant technique, whereby atoms, molecules, and even microscopic beads of glass can be trapped in small regions of free space by beams of light and subsequently moved at will using other beams, has revolutionized many areas of physics. In particular, it provides a useful research tool for the study of individual atoms, for investigating the details of chemical reactions, and even for the study of atomic motion in the quantum domain.

This text begins with a review of the relevant aspects of quantum mechanics; it then turns to the electromagnetic interactions involved in slowing and trapping atoms, in both magnetic and optical traps. The concluding chapters discuss a broad range of applications, including atomic clocks, studies of ultra-cold collision processes, diffraction and interference of atomic beams, optical lattices, and Bose-Einstein condensation. The book is intended for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students who have some basic knowledge of optics and quantum mechanics. An extensive bibliography provides access to the current research literature.

Contents:

1 Review of Quantum Mechanics 3

1.1 Time-Dependent Perturbation Theory 3

1.2 The Rabi Two-Level Problem 4

1.2.1 Light Shifts 7

1.2.2 The Dressed Atom Picture 9

1.2.3 The Bloch Vector 11

1.2.4 Adiabatic Rapid Passage 12

1.3 Excited-State Decay and its Effects 14

2 The Density Matrix 17

2.1 Basic Concepts 17

2.2 Spontaneous Emission 20

2.3 The Optical Bloch Equations 23

2.4 Power Broadening and Saturation 24

3 Force on Two-Level Atoms 29

3.1 Laser Light Pressure 29

3.2 A Two-Level Atom at Rest 31

3.3 Atoms in Motion 34

3.3.1 Traveling Wave 34

3.3.2 Standing Wave 35

4 Multilevel Atoms 39

4.1 Alkali-Metal Atoms 39

4.2 Metastable Noble Gas Atoms 43

4.3 Polarization and Interference 45

4.4 Angular Momentum and Selection Rules 47

4.5 Optical Transitions in Multilevel Atoms 50

4.5.2 Radial Part 51

4.5.3 Angular Part of the Dipole Matrix Element 52

4.5.4 Fine and Hyperfine Interactions 53

5 General Properties Concerning Laser Cooling 57

5.1 Temperature and Thermodynamics in Laser Cooling 58

5.2 Kinetic Theory and the Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution 61

5.3 Random Walks 63

5.4 The Fokker-Planck Equation and Cooling Limits 66

5.5 Phase Space and Liouville's Theorem 68

II Cooling & Trapping 71

6 Deceleration of an Atomic Beam 73

6.2 Techniques of Beam Deceleration 74

6.2.1 Laser Frequency Sweep 76

6.2.2 Varying the Atomic Frequency: Magnetic Field Case 77

6.2.3 Varying the Atomic Frequency: Electric Field Case 77

6.2.4 Varying the Doppler Shift: Diffuse Light 78

6.2.5 Broadband Light 79

6.2.6 Rydberg Atoms 79

6.3 Measurements and Results 80

6.4 Further Considerations 83

6.4.1 Cooling During Deceleration 83

6.4.2 Non-Uniformity of Deceleration 84

6.4.3 Transverse Motion During Deceleration 85

6.4.4 Optical Pumping During Deceleration 86

7 Optical Molasses 87

7.2 Low-Intensity Theory for a Two-Level Atom in One Dimension 88

7.3 Atomic Beam Collimation 90

7.3.1 Low-Intensity Case 90

7.3.2 Experiments in One and Two Dimensions 92

7.4 Experiments in Three-Dimensional Optical Molasses 95

8 Cooling Below the Doppler Limit 99

8.2 Linear [perpendicular, bottom] Linear Polarization Gradient Cooling 100

8.2.1 Light Shifts 101

8.2.2 Origin of the Damping Force 102

8.3 Magnetically Induced Laser Cooling 104

8.4 [sigma][superscript +]-[sigma][superscript -] Polarization Gradient Cooling 106

8.5 Theory of Sub-Doppler Laser Cooling 107

8.6 Optical Molasses in Three Dimensions 111

8.7 The Limits of Laser Cooling 113

8.7.1 The Recoil Limit 113

8.7.2 Cooling Below the Recoil Limit 114

8.8 Sisyphus Cooling 116

8.9 Cooling in a Strong Magnetic Field 118

8.10 VSR and Polarization Gradients 120

9 The Dipole Force 123

9.2 Evanescent Waves 124

9.3 Dipole Force in a Standing Wave: Optical Molasses at High Intensity 126

9.4 Atomic Motion Controlled by Two Frequencies 128

9.4.2 Rectification of the Dipole Force 129

9.4.3 The Bichromatic Force 131

9.4.4 Beam Collimation and Slowing 135

10 Magnetic Trapping of Neutral Atoms 137

10.2 Magnetic Traps 138

10.3 Classical Motion of Atoms in a Magnetic Quadrupole Trap 140

10.3.1 Simple Picture of Classical Motion in a Trap 140

10.3.2 Numerical Calculations of the Orbits 141

10.3.3 Early Experiments with Classical Motion 143

10.4 Quantum Motion in a Trap 145

10.4.1 Heuristic Calculations of the Quantum Motion of Magnetically Trapped Atoms 146

10.4.2 Three-Dimensional Quantum Calculations 146

10.4.3 Experiments in the Quantum Domain 147

11 Optical Traps for Neutral Atoms 149

11.2 Dipole Force Optical Traps 150

11.2.1 Single-Beam Optical Traps for Two-Level Atoms 150

11.2.2 Hybrid Dipole Radiative Trap 152

11.2.3 Blue Detuned Optical Traps 153

11.2.4 Microscopic Optical Traps 155

11.3 Radiation Pressure Traps 156

11.4 Magneto-Optical Traps 156

11.4.2 Cooling and Compressing Atoms in a MOT 158

11.4.3 Capturing Atoms in a MOT 159

11.4.4 Variations on the MOT Technique 162

12 Evaporative Cooling 165

12.2 Basic Assumptions 166

12.3 The Simple Model 167

12.4 Speed and Limits of Evaporative Cooling 171

12.4.1 Boltzmann Equation 171

12.4.2 Speed of Evaporation 171

12.4.3 Limiting Temperature 174

12.5 Experimental Results 175

13 Newtonian Atom Optics and its Applications 179

13.2 Atom Mirrors 180

13.3 Atom Lenses 181

13.3.1 Magnetic Lenses 181

13.3.2 Optical Atom Lenses 184

13.4 Atomic Fountain 185

13.5 Application to Atomic Beam Brightening 186

13.5.2 Beam-Brightening Experiments 188

13.5.3 High-Brightness Metastable Beams 189

13.6 Application to Nanofabrication 190

13.7 Applications to Atomic Clocks 192

13.7.2 Atomic Fountain Clocks 193

13.8 Application to Ion Traps 194

13.9 Application to Non-Linear Optics 195

14 Ultra-cold Collisions 199

14.2 Potential Scattering 200

14.3 Ground-state Collisions 204

14.4 Excited-state Collisions 207

14.4.1 Trap Loss Collisions 207

14.4.2 Optical Collisions 209

14.4.3 Photo-Associative Spectroscopy 213

14.5 Collisions Involving Rydberg States 218

15 deBroglie Wave Optics 219

15.2 Gratings 220

15.3 Beam Splitters 223

15.5 Mirrors 225

15.6 Atom Polarizers 226

15.7 Application to Atom Interferometry 227

16 Optical Lattices 231

16.2 Laser Arrangements for Optical Lattices 232

16.3 Quantum States of Motion 235

16.4 Band Structure in Optical Lattices 238

16.5 Quantum View of Laser Cooling 239

17 bose-Einstein Condensation 241

17.2 The Pathway to BEC 243

17.3 Experiments 244

17.3.1 Observation of BEC 244

17.3.2 First-Order Coherence Experiments in BEC 246

17.3.3 Higher-Order Coherence Effects in BEC 248

17.3.4 Other Experiments 249

18 Dark States 251

18.2 VSCPT in Two-Level Atoms 252

18.3 VSCPT in Real Atoms 254

18.3.1 Circularly Polarized Light 255

18.3.2 Linearly Polarized Light 257

18.4 VSCPT at Momenta Higher Than [plus or minus]hk 258

18.5 VSCPT and Bragg Reflection 259

18.6 Entangled States 261

A Notation and Definitions 265

B Review Articles and Books on Laser Cooling 269

C Characteristic Data 273

D Transition Strengths 279.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [291]-316) and index.

ISBN:

0387987479

0387987282

OCLC:

40654502