Related papers: Optical Cooling Using the Dipole Force
We present first indications of sympathetic cooling between two neutral, optically trapped atomic species. Lithium and cesium atoms are simultaneously stored in an optical dipole trap formed by the focus of a CO$_2$ laser, and allowed to…
We have realized a hybrid optomechanical system by coupling ultracold atoms to a micromechanical membrane. The atoms are trapped in an optical lattice, which is formed by retro-reflection of a laser beam from the membrane surface. In this…
We propose to sympathetically slow and cool polar molecules in a cold, low-density beam using laser-cooled Rydberg atoms. The elastic collision cross sections between molecules and Rydberg atoms are large enough to efficiently thermalize…
The radiation pressure of light can act to damp and cool the vibrational motion of a mechanical resonator. In understanding the quantum limits of this cooling, one must consider the effect of shot noise fluctuations on the final thermal…
Optomechanical cavities in the well-resolved-sideband regime are ideally suited for the study of a myriad of quantum phenomena with mechanical systems, including backaction-evading measurements, mechanical squeezing, and generation of…
Recent theoretical investigations have indicated that rapid optical cycling should be feasible in complex polyatomic molecules with diverse constituents, geometries and symmetries. However, as a composite molecular mass grows, so does the…
Laser cooling of translational motion of small molecules is performed by addressing transitions that ensure spontaneous emission cannot cause net rotational excitation. This will not be possible once the rotational splitting becomes…
A novel method of ground state laser cooling of trapped atoms utilizes the absorption profile of a three (or multi-) level system which is tailored by a quantum interference. With cooling rates comparable to conventional sideband cooling,…
We investigate the resonant cooling phenomena of a driven two-level radiator embedded in a photonic crystal structure. We find that cooling occurs even at laser-atom-frequency resonance. This happens due to the atomic dressed-states…
Optomechanical systems show tremendous promise for high sensitivity sensing of forces and modification of mechanical properties via light. For example, similar to neutral atoms and trapped ions, laser cooling of mechanical motion by…
Doppler cooling the center-of-mass motion of an optically levitated microsphere via the velocity dependent scattering force from narrow whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonances is described. Light that is red detuned from the WGM resonance…
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…
A planar triplet of diffraction gratings is used to transform a single laser beam into a four-beam tetrahedral magneto-optical trap. This `flat' pyramid diffractor geometry is ideal for future microfabrication. We demonstrate the technique…
Laser cooling typically requires one or more repump lasers to clear dark states and enable recycling transitions. Here, we have achieved cooling of Be+ ions using a single laser beam, facilitated by one-dimensional heating through…
We explore, theoretically and experimentally, a method for cooling a broadband heat reservoir, via its laser-assisted collisions with two-level atoms followed by their fluorescence. This method is shown to be advantageous compared to…
Optically trapped dielectric objects are well suited for reaching the quantum regime of their center of mass motion in an ultra-high vacuum environment. We show that ground state cooling of an optically trapped nanosphere is achievable when…
The direct laser cooling of neutral diatomic molecules in molecular beams suggests that trapped molecular ions can also be laser cooled. The long storage time and spatial localization of trapped molecular ions provides the opportunity for…
Cooling down a trapped ion into its motional ground state is a central step for trapped ions based quantum information processing. State of the art cooling schemes often work under a set of optimal cooling conditions derived analytically…
We propose a laser cooling concept for the translational motion of molecules which does not require repeated spontaneous emission by each molecule. The cooling works by repetition of three main steps: velocity selection of a narrow momentum…
We demonstrate cooling of the motion of a single atom confined by a dipole trap inside a high-finesse optical resonator. Cooling of the vibrational motion results from EIT-like interference in an atomic \Lambda-type configuration, where one…