Related papers: $\Lambda$-Enhanced Imaging of Molecules in an Opti…
Experiments with cold atoms trapped in optical lattices offer the potential to realize a variety of novel phases but suffer from severe spatial inhomogeneity that can obscure signatures of new phases of matter and phase boundaries. We use a…
We demonstrate a combined magneto-optical trap and imaging system that is suitable for the investigation of cold atoms near surfaces. In particular, we are able to trap atoms close to optically scattering surfaces and to image them with an…
We report the realization of a blue-detuned magneto-optical trap (BDM) of BaF molecules. The (1 + 1) type BDM and (1 + 2) type conveyor-belt MOT are explored. While the (1+1) BDM provides only weak trapping force, the conveyor-belt MOT…
We demonstrate photophoretic force-based optical trapping of multiple absorbing particles in air by loosely focusing a Gaussian beam with a series of convex lenses of different focal lengths, and investigate the dependence of the number of…
We perform fluorescence imaging of a single 87Rb atom after its release from an optical dipole trap. The time-of-flight expansion of the atomic spatial density distribution is observed by accumulating many single atom images. The position…
We utilize the optical transitions of Yb$^{2+}$ excited by an ultraviolet optical parametric amplifier to probe electron trap liberation in MgF$_{2}$ via the observation of a photoluminescence enhancement effect induced by a subsequent…
We present theoretical and experimental results of coherent population trapping spectra on a multi-level $^{40}$Ca$^+$-type configuration, adding a third beam to the standard two-laser $\Lambda$ system to avoid undesired optical pumping. We…
Optical refrigeration using anti-Stokes photoluminescence is now well established, especially for rare-earth-doped solids where cooling to cryogenic temperatures has recently been achieved. The cooling efficiency of optical refrigeration is…
The use of tapered optical fibers, i.e., optical nanofibers, for spectroscopy and the detection of small numbers of particles, such as neutral atoms or molecules, has been gaining ground in recent years. In this review, we briefly introduce…
Using frequency-chirped radiation pressure slowing, we precisely control the velocity of a pulsed CaF molecular beam down to a few m/s, compressing its velocity spread by a factor of 10 while retaining high intensity: at a velocity of…
We report the rapid accelerated thermalisation of Potassium 39 K atoms loaded in a magnetic trap, in the presence of a single dipole trap beam. More than an order of magnitude reduction in the thermalisation time, to less than a second, is…
Optical trapping of magnetic Fe-oxide particles is notoriously difficult due to their high refractive indices, not to mention high absorptivity at the trapping infra-red wavelengths. We synthesize Fe co-doped NaYF4:Yb,Er ferromagnetic…
We present a realization of a magneto-optical trap of mercury atoms on the intercombination line. We report on trapping of all stable mercury isotopes. We characterize the effect of laser detuning, laser intensity, and gradient field on the…
We analyze quantitatively how imaging techniques with single-site resolution allow to measure thermodynamical properties that cannot be inferred from time-of-light images for the trapped Bose-Hubbard model. If the normal state extends over…
Ultracold molecules, because of their rich internal structures and interactions, have been proposed as a promising platform for quantum science and precision measurement. Direct laser-cooling promises to be a rapid and efficient way to…
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…
The development of laser cooling coupled with the ability to trap atoms and ions in electromagnetic fields, has revolutionised atomic and optical physics, leading to the development of atomic clocks, high-resolution spectroscopy and…
For several decades, ions have been trapped by radio frequency (RF) and neutral particles by optical fields. We implement the experimental proof-of-principle for trapping an ion in an optical dipole trap. While loading, initialization and…
We have formulated and experimentally demonstrated an improved algorithm for design of arbitrary two-dimensional holographic traps for ultracold atoms. Our method builds on the best previously available algorithm, MRAF, and improves on it…
We report on the electrostatic trapping of neutral SrF molecules. The molecules are captured from a cryogenic buffer-gas beam source into the moving traps of a 4.5 m long traveling-wave Stark decelerator. The SrF molecules in…