Hannover 2010 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 55: Poster II

Q 55.20: Poster

Donnerstag, 11. März 2010, 16:00–19:00, Lichthof

Cooling caesium atoms in a bad, near-confocal cavity — •Arne Wickenbrock, Piyaphat Phoonthong, Nihal Wahab, and Ferruccio Renzoni — Department of Physics and Astronomy, Univerity College London, WC1 5BT London, UK

Particles in a macroscopic optical cavity have significantly altered optical properties [1]. The presence of the cavity changes the em-mode spectrum and hence scattering rates and spontaneous emission. Inside the cavity the mode density is strongly frequency dependent, which can be used to propose cooling schemes without a closed optical transition [2-4]. This might expand the range of ultracold particles to more complex structured atoms and molecules. We report on experiments conducted on a cold sample of caesium atoms placed in the centre of the optical resonator. Our apparatus includes a 12cm long near-confocal cavity with a finesse of 800.

In a first set of experiments the cavity resonance is positioned with respect to the cycling transition of caesium, while a laser pumps it for a certain time. Measuring the temperature of the expanding cloud in a time of flight measurement over the cavity-atom detuning reveals the effect of the resonator. [1]E.M. Purcell, Phys. Rev. 69, 681 [2]Horak P., Hechenblaikner G., Gheri K. M., Stecher H., Ritsch H., Phys. Rev. Lett.79, 4974 [3]Vuletic V., Chu S., Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 3787 [4]P. Domokos and H. Ritsch, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 20, 1089 (2003)