Optical cooling of atomic hydrogen in a magnetic trap

Optical cooling of atomic hydrogen in a magnetic trap.

We describe the prospects for optical cooling of magnetically trapped atomic hydrogen. We analyze the performance of an optical system currently under development in our laboratory and present calculations for the optical cooling rate. We conclude that by using optical techniques hydrogen can be cooled to below 10 mK while the density is simultaneously boosted to approximately 1014 cm. The same...

Sympathetic cooling with two atomic species in an optical trap.

We simultaneously trap ultracold lithium and cesium atoms in an optical dipole trap formed by the focus of a CO2 laser and study the exchange of thermal energy between the gases. The optically cooled cesium gas efficiently decreases the temperature of the lithium gas through sympathetic cooling. Equilibrium temperatures down to 25 microK have been reached. The measured cross section for thermal...

Atomic micromotion and geometric forces in a triaxial magnetic trap

Nonadiabatic motion of Bose-Einstein condensates of rubidium atoms arising from the dynamical nature of a time-orbiting-potential (TOP) trap was observed experimentally. The orbital micromotion of the condensate in velocity space at the frequency of the rotating bias field of the TOP was detected by a time-of-flight method. A dependence of the equilibrium position of the atoms on the sense of r...

Cooling Atoms in an Optical Trap by Selective Parametric Excitation

Cooling of a single atom in an optical trap inside a resonator

We present detailed discussions of cooling and trapping mechanisms for an atom in an optical trap inside an optical cavity, as relevant to recent experiments. The interference pattern of cavity QED and trapping fields in space makes the trapping wells, in principle, distinguishable from one another. This adds considerable flexibility to creating effective trapping and cooling conditions and to ...