Narrow Line Cooling: Finite Photon Recoil Dynamics
Abstract
We present an extensive study of the unique thermal and mechanical dynamics for narrow-line cooling on the 1S0 - 3P1 88Sr transition. For negative detuning, trap dynamics reveal a transition from the semiclassical regime to the photon-recoil-dominated quantum regime, yielding an absolute minima in the equilibrium temperature below the single-photon recoil limit. For positive detuning, the cloud divides into discrete momentum packets whose alignment mimics lattice points on a face-centered-cubic crystal. This novel behavior arises from velocity selection and "positive feedback" acceleration due to a finite number of photon recoils. Cooling is achieved with blue-detuned light around a velocity where gravity balances the radiative force.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.physics/0401055,
title = {Narrow Line Cooling: Finite Photon Recoil Dynamics},
author = {Thomas H. Loftus and Tetsuya Ido and Andrew D. Ludlow and Martin M. Boyd and Jun Ye},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:physics/0401055},
year = {2009}
}
Comments
4 pages, 3 figures, Phys. Rev. Lett., in press