Related papers: Optical pulse-shaping for internal cooling of mole…
We study laser cooling of atomic gases by collisional redistribution, a technique applicable to ultradense atomic ensembles at a pressure of a few hundred bar. Frequent collisions of an optically active atom with a buffer gas shift atoms…
We report on a generic cooling technique for atoms trapped in optical lattices. It consists in modulating the lattice depth with a proper frequency sweeping. This filtering technique removes the most energetic atoms, and provides with the…
We propose a highly efficient and fast method of translational cooling for high-angular-momentum atoms. Optical pumping and stimulated transitions, combined with magnetic forces, can be used to compress phase-space density, and the…
We demonstrate Doppler-free saturated absorption spectroscopy of cold molecular radicals formed by laser ablation inside a cryogenic buffer gas cell. By lowering the temperature, congested regions of the spectrum can be simplified, and by…
A study of the intensity-borrowing mechanisms important to optical cycling transitions in laser-coolable polyatomic molecules arising from non-adiabatic coupling, contributions beyond the Franck-Condon approximation, and Fermi resonances is…
Polar molecules in superpositions of rotational states exhibit long-range dipolar interactions, but maintaining their coherence in a trapped sample is a challenge. We present calculations that show many laser-coolable molecules have…
We propose and analyse a scheme to cool atoms in an optical lattice to ultra-low temperatures within a Bloch band, and away from commensurate filling. The protocol is inspired by ideas from dark state laser cooling, but replaces electronic…
We experimentally demonstrate optimal storage and retrieval of light pulses of arbitrary shape in atomic ensembles. By shaping auxiliary control pulses, we attain efficiencies approaching the fundamental limit and achieve precise retrieval…
The vibrational branching ratios from the lowest excited electronic state for $\textrm{SrOCH}_3$, $\textrm{SrNH}_2$, and $\textrm{SrSH}$ are measured at the $< 0.1\%$ level. Spectra are obtained by driving the $\tilde{X} - \tilde{A}$…
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 propose a generic approach to nonresonant laser cooling of atoms/molecules in a bistable optical cavity. The method exemplifies a photonic version of Sisyphus cooling, in which the matter-dressed cavity extracts energy from the particles…
Micro- and nanoscale opto-mechanical systems provide radiation pressure coupling of optical and mechanical degree of freedom and are actively pursued for their ability to explore quantum mechanical phenomena of macroscopic objects. Many of…
Atomic-resolution-imaging approaches for single molecules, such as coherent x-ray diffraction at free-electron lasers, require the delivery of high-density beams of identical molecules. However, even very cold beams of biomolecules…
Numerous techniques have been demonstrated for effective generation of orbital angular momentum-carrying radiation, but intracavity generation of continuously tunable pulses in the femtosecond regime remains challenging. Even if such a…
We show that a single femtosecond optical frequency comb may be used to induce two-photon transitions between molecular vibrational levels to form ultracold molecules, e.g., KRb. The phase across an individual pulse in the pulse train is…
We have experimentally and theoretically investigated the mixed-field orientation of rotational-state-selected OCS molecules and we achieve strong degrees of alignment and orientation. The applied moderately intense nanosecond laser pulses…
Laser cooling, which cools atomic and molecular gases to near absolute zero, is the crucial initial step for nearly all atomic gas experiments. However, fast achievement of numerous sub-$\mu$K cold atoms is challenging. To resolve the…
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…
Optical cycling transitions and direct laser cooling have recently been demonstrated for a number of alkaline-earth dimers and trimer molecules. This is made possible by diagonal Franck-Condon factors between the vibrational modes of the…
We have developed a source of cold LiH molecules for Stark deceleration and trapping experiments. Lithium metal is ablated from a solid target into a supersonically expanding carrier gas. The translational, rotational and vibrational…