Related papers: Cold atom gas at very high densities in an optical…
The laser-excitation of Rydberg atoms in ultracold gases is often described assuming that the atomic motion is frozen during the excitation time. We show that this frozen gas approximation can break down for atoms that are held in optical…
Magnetic trapping of bromine atoms at temperatures in the milliKelvin regime is demonstrated for the first time. The atoms are produced by photodissociation of Br$_2$ molecules in a molecular beam. The lab-frame velocity of Br atoms is…
We investigate laser cooling of an ensemble of atoms in an optical cavity. We demonstrate that when atomic dipoles are sychronized in the regime of steady-state superradiance, the motion of the atoms may be subject to a giant frictional…
We have demonstrated an atom-optical lens, with the advantage of a small scale and flexible adjustment of the parameters, realized by a far red-detuned Gaussian laser beam perpendicular to the propagation direction of the cold atomic cloud.…
We report on the realization of a transversely loaded two-dimensional magneto-optical trap serving as a source for cold strontium atoms. We analyze the dependence of the source's properties on various parameters, in particular the intensity…
Ultracold gases of atoms from Main Group III (Group 13) of the Periodic Table, also known as "triel elements," have great potential for a new generation of quantum matter experiments. The first magneto-optical trap of a triel element…
Ultracold $^{87}$Rb atoms are delivered into a high-finesse optical micro-cavity using a translating optical lattice trap and detected via the cavity field. The atoms are loaded into an optical lattice from a magneto-optic trap (MOT) and…
Optically trapped laser-cooled polar molecules hold promise for new science and technology in quantum information and quantum simulation. Large numerical aperture optical access and long trap lifetimes are needed for many studies, but these…
We demonstrate loading of ions into a surface-electrode trap (SET) from a remote, laser-cooled source of neutral atoms. We first cool and load $\sim$ $10^6$ neutral $^{88}$Sr atoms into a magneto-optical trap from an oven that has no line…
First laser cooling and trapping of the heavy alkaline earth element barium has been achieved based on the strong 6s$^2$ $^1$S$_0$ - 6s6p $^1$P$_1$ transition for the main cooling. Due to the large branching into metastable D-states several…
We theoretically analyze the cooling dynamics of an atom which is tightly trapped inside a high-finesse optical resonator. Cooling is achieved by suitably tailored scattering processes, in which the atomic dipole transition either scatters…
Optical dipole traps and atom chips are two very powerful tools for the quantum manipulation of neutral atoms. We demonstrate that both methods can be combined by creating an optical lattice potential on an atom chip. A red-detuned laser…
Photoionization spectroscopy of cold cesium dimers obtained by photoassociation of cold atoms in a magneto-optical trap is reported here. In particular, we report on the observation and on the spectroscopic analysis of all the excited…
We describe a novel method to measure the surface charge densities on optical fibers placed in the vicinity of a trapped ion, where the ion itself acts as the probe. Surface charges distort the trapping potential, and when the fibers are…
The design of an experiment on the spontaneous crystallization of a laser-cooled, but thermal atomic cloud into a hexagonally structured phase is discussed. Atomic interaction is mediated by the dipole potential of an optical lattice formed…
The study of transverse optical pattern formation has been studied extensively in nonlinear optics, with a recent experimental interest in studying the phenomenon using cold atoms, which can undergo real-space self-organization. Here, we…
We investigate fluorescence detection using a standing wave of blue-detuned light of one or more atoms held in a deep, microscopic dipole trap. The blue-detuned standing wave realizes a Sisyphus laser cooling mechanism so that an atom can…
We present a new and efficient implementation of Raman cooling of trapped atoms. It uses Raman pulses with an appropriate frequency chirp to realize a velocity selective excitation through a rapid adiabatic passage. This method allows to…
This article presents a new experiment aiming at BEC of metastable helium atoms. It describes the design of a high flux discharge source of atoms and a robust laser system using a DBR diode coupled with a high power Yb doped fiber amplifier…
We present a combined computational and experimental study to optimize the efficiency of evaporative cooling for atoms in optical dipole traps. By employing a kinetic model of evaporation, we provide a strategy for determining the optimal…