ATOMIC COOLING

By:
Akash Gulati
Integrated PhD
S.R No. 13620
 PHOTON RECOIL

Sodium levels

•Only those photons are absorbed which corresponds to an

atomic transition frequency
•Absorbed photon reduces the atom’s velocity by ∆v = ћk/m
•Emitted photon is in a random direction, and the time average of
the momentum transfer is zero
 DOPPLER EFFECT

 Photons appear to moving particles as red shifted or blue

shifted depending on there relative direction of motion.
 So, the laser must be tuned to a frequency ω=ω0-kv and
by doing this only those particles which are moving
towards the LASER will absorb the radiation.
 FREQUENCY TUNING

As the particles cool down, the Doppler shift will

also change and the frequency of LASER must be
tuned accordingly.

This could be achieved be two different techniques

1.) Zeeman cooling
2.) Chirp Cooling
 ZEEMAN COOLING

The tapered solenoid creates a variable magnetic field such

that the transition frequency shift due to Zeeman splitting
matches the frequency shift due to the Doppler effect

 B B( z )
0     kv

 CHIRP COOLING
 Another method of Doppler cooling is to rapidly
sweep the driving laser frequency
 By sweeping frequency, a large of particles can
interact with laser and if we sweep fast enough, each
atom can interact with laser of right frequency.

The name comes from the fact that

the driving frequency sweeps
sounds like birds chirping
 OPTICAL MOLASSES
Six Laser beams from the three coordinate
axis intersect at a point. In this way, particles
going in all directions interact with laser
beam.

Each atom with velocity v can absorb a

frequency of   0  kv  
where gamma is the natural line width

The force on the atom in the trap is F = -av,

i.e., the atom is always pulled back in to the
trap
 THE DOPPLER LIMIT

 Its not possible to cool till absolute zero using doppler cooling.
 There are fluctuations in spontaneous emission process due to
which gas gets heated up.
 At Doppler limit, the heating rate and cooling rate are in
equilibrium.
 To cool further sub Doppler techniques are used.


TD 
2k B
 COOLING BELOW DOPPLER LIMIT

 Sisyphus cooling
 Raman side band cooling

 Velocity selective coherence population

techniques
 Resolved sideband cooling
 LASERS USED

Tunable lasers are preferred as

there wavelength can be varied over
a range
Titanium-doped sapphire is the
most common tunable solid-state
laser, capable of laser operation from
670 nm to 1,100 nm wavelength

Ultimate choice of laser depends on your particular experiment

 TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
One sample technique:
 In the time of flight(TOF) stage all light and
magnetic field is turned off and atoms expand
freely.
 After the expansion, the imaging beam is turned
on for 200 µs in fluorescence imaging mode which
images atomic cloud
 And then by scanning TOF duration the cooled
temperature is calculated from a time of flight
after compensating for error by imaging beam.
 APPLICATIONS
 High-resolution spectroscopic measurements (e.g. for
frequency standards in optical clocks based on ultra
cold ions or atoms) by the elimination of Doppler
broadening.
 Studying the behaviour of ultra cold gases, which can
exhibit interesting phenomena such as Bose–Einstein
condensation (BEC), for example.
 Quantum optics research.
 Ultra precise measurement of gravitational fields
(used e.g. for gravitational physics or for oil field
exploration), based on the Doppler shift of free-falling
cooled atoms, on Bloch oscillations
 Lithography with cold atomic beams to form very
accurately controlled structures.
 REFERENCES
 ‘Atomic physics’ by Christopher J. Foot.
 ‘LASER COOLING AND TRAPPING OF
ATOMS’ – Nobel prize lecture by
William D. Phillips.
 PhysRevLett.25.1321

 Hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu
THANKS