2000 character limit reached
Interferometric laser cooling of atomic rubidium (1408.6877v2)
Published 28 Aug 2014 in physics.atom-ph
Abstract: We report the 1-D cooling of ${85}$Rb atoms using a velocity-dependent optical force based upon Ramsey matter-wave interferometry. Using stimulated Raman transitions between ground hyperfine states, 12 cycles of the interferometer sequence cool a freely-moving atom cloud from $21~\mu$K to $3~\mu$K. This pulsed analog of continuous-wave Doppler cooling is effective at temperatures down to the recoil limit; with augmentation pulses to increase the interferometer area, it should cool more quickly than conventional methods, and be more suitable for species that lack a closed radiative transition.