Related papers: Forbidden Transitions in a Magneto-Optical Trap
Dysprosium (Dy) is the most magnetic element on the periodic table, making it excellent for studying dipolar atom-atom interactions. We report on a simple Dy MOT that captures atoms directly from the thermal beam using a single diode-laser…
We demonstrate a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) configuration which employs optical forces due to light scattering between electronically excited states of the atom. With the standard MOT laser beams propagating along the {\it x}- and {\it y}-…
In this article, we report on a magneto-optical trap (MOT) created by the 2nd-order external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs). The lasers were characterized. We have observed the non-continuous changes of the wavelength as a function of the…
We report the first direct excitation of the strongly forbidden 5s2 1S0-5s5p 3P0 transition in 87Sr. Its frequency is 429 228 004 235 (20) kHz. A resonant laser creates a small leak in a magneto-optical trap (MOT): atoms build up to the…
We carried out a systematic high-precision relativistic study of the forbidden magnetic-dipole and electric-quadrupole transitions in Ca+, Rb, Sr+, Cs, Ba+, Fr, Ra+, Ac2+, and Th3+. This work is motivated by the importance of these…
We report on the design, implementation, and performance of a compact two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) for cesium. In a small-volume vacuum chamber, the setup uses cesium dispensers in close proximity to the trapping region of…
We present our technique to create a magneto-optical trap for dysprosium atoms using the narrow-line cooling transition at 626$\,$nm to achieve suitable conditions for direct loading into an optical dipole trap. The magneto-optical trap is…
We report on a narrow-linewidth cooling of $^{6}$Li atoms using the $2S_{1/2}\to 3P_{3/2}$ transition in the ultraviolet (UV) wavelength regime. By combining the traditional red magneto-optical trap (MOT) at 671 nm and the UV MOT at 323 nm,…
Direct evidence of excitation of the 5p3/2 -> 6p3/2 electric dipole forbidden transition in atomic rubidium is presented. The experiments were performed in a room temperature rubidium cell with continuous wave extended cavity diode lasers.…
Polar molecules in selected quantum states can be guided, decelerated and trapped using electric fields created by microstructured electrodes on a chip. Here we explore how non-adiabatic transitions between levels in which the molecules are…
Molecular absorption of infrared radiation is generally due to ro-vibrational electric-dipole transitions. Electric-quadrupole transitions may still occur, but they are typically a million times weaker than electric-dipole transitions,…
We propose a new spectroscopic method for measuring weak transitions in cold and trapped atoms, which exploits the long interaction times and tight confinement offered by dark optical traps together with an electron shelving technique to…
We have constructed a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for metastable triplet helium atoms utilizing the 2 3S1 -> 3 3P2 line at 389 nm as the trapping and cooling transition. The far-red-detuned MOT (detuning Delta = -41 MHz) typically contains…
We present a comprehensive study of the electronic transitions in neutral cadmium (Cd I) with a focus on forbidden transitions, motivated by recent advances in laser technology and the growing relevance of cadmium in quantum gas research,…
We propose a method for laser cooling and trapping a substantial class of polar molecules, and in particular titanium (II) oxide (TiO). This method uses pulsed electric fields to nonadiabatically remix the ground-state magnetic sublevels of…
Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) of highly magnetic lanthanides open the door to explorations of novel phases of strongly correlated matter such as lattice supersolids and quantum liquid crystals. We recently reported the first MOTs of the five…
We report on the first coherent excitation of the highly forbidden $^2S_{1/2}\rightarrow{}^2F_{7/2}$ electric octupole (E3) transition in a single trapped ${}^{172}$Yb$^+$ ion, an isotope without nuclear spin. Using the transition in…
Recent experiments have demonstrated direct cooling and trapping of diatomic and triatomic molecules in magneto-optical traps (MOTs). However, even the best molecular MOTs to date still have density $10^{-5}$ times smaller than in typical…
We describe a dynamic magneto-optical trap (MOT) suitable for the use with vacuum systems in which optical access is limited to a single window. This technique facilitates the long-standing desire of producing integrated atom chips, many of…
Photons carrying a well-defined orbital angular momentum have been proven to modify spectroscopic selection rules in atomic matter. Excitation profiles of electric quadrupole transitions have been measured with single trapped $^{40}$Ca$^+$…