Laser cooling

Formation of a beam of cold atoms by laser frequency tuning

Yu. V. Rozhdestvenskii^a, A. K. Vershovskii^b, E. A. Ageichik^c, V. S. Zholnerov<sup>c

a</sup> St. Petersburg National Research University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics
^b Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg
^c Russian Institute of Radionavigation and Time, St. Petersburg

Abstract: We report the possibility of producing a beam of slow atoms with a characteristic velocity of ~1 m s^-1 by the 'chirp' method, namely, cooling by variable-frequency radiation. Method modifications are considered, which substantially reduce dimensions of the slower, the width of the longitudinal velocity distribution of the atomic beam, and the area of its cross section. The modified method of laser radiation frequency tuning for cooling rubidium atoms is mathematically simulated.

Keywords: laser cooling, beams of cold atoms, frequency standards.

Received: 29.06.2016
Revised: 25.08.2016

 English version: Quantum Electronics, 2016, 46:10, 941–946

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