Sub-Doppler laser cooling of potassium atoms

Journal Article · Sat Oct 15 00:00:00 EDT 2011 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.84.043432· OSTI ID:22095389

Landini, M. ^[1]; Roy, S.; Carcagni, L.; Trypogeorgos, D. ^[1]; Fattori, M.; Inguscio, M.; Modugno, G. ^[1]

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1. LENS and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, Universita di Firenze, I-50019 Sesto Fiorentino (Italy)

We investigate the sub-Doppler laser cooling of bosonic potassium isotopes, whose small hyperfine splitting has so far prevented cooling below the Doppler temperature. We find instead that the combination of a dark optical molasses scheme that naturally arises in this kind of system and an adiabatic ramping of the laser parameters allows us to reach sub-Doppler temperatures for small laser detunings. We demonstrate temperatures as low as 25{+-}3 {mu}K and 47{+-}5 {mu}K in high-density samples of the two isotopes {sup 39}K and {sup 41}K, respectively. Our findings should find application to other atomic systems.

• OSTI ID: 22095389
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 4; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
COOLING
LASERS
POTASSIUM
POTASSIUM 39
POTASSIUM 41
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0013-0065 K