Electromagnetic trapping of cold atoms

Abstract

This review describes the methods of trapping cold atoms in electromagnetic fields and in the combined electromagnetic and gravity fields. We discuss first the basic types of the dipole radiation forces used for cooling and trapping atoms in the laser fields. We outline next the fundamentals of the laser cooling of atoms and classify the temperature limits for basic laser cooling processes. The main body of the review is devoted to discussion of atom traps based on the dipole radiation forces, dipole magnetic forces, combined dipole radiation-magnetic forces, and the forces combined of the dipole radiation-magnetic and gravity forces. Physical fundamentals of atom traps operating as waveguides and cavities for cold atoms are also considered. The review ends with the applications of cold and trapped atoms in atomic, molecular and optical physics.

Co-propagating Bose–Einstein condensates and electromagnetic radiation: formation of mutually localized structures

“…α > 0). By studying the consequences of the full nonlinear term on the density structures of an atomic beam copropagating with a laser beam, we expect to find an extension of wellknown results on cold atom guiding, see for instance [16] and references therein.…”

Dynamical constants for electromagnetic fields with elliptic-cylindrical symmetry

“…The standard semiclassical approach is taken, as in the pioneering works by Letokhov [23] and Gordon and Ashkin [24]. In this approximation, a monochromatic electromagnetic wave describable by a coherent state couples to the dipole moment of an atom.…”

Magneto-optical Trap: Fundamentals and Realization

“…Slow velocity, low kinetic energy, greatly reduced collisional perturbation, long interaction time, ability to store a large number of atoms at sufficiently high density -all those features cause interest in the cold atom environment as the ground for a wide variety of novel and precise experiments in the field of, for example, quantum optics, coherent phenomena, frequency standards, cold collisions or atom optics [1]. First papers on deceleration and trapping of atoms by means of laser light or confining the atoms with the magnetic field date back to several decades ago (see e.g., for earlier works [2]); we will recall an important contribution by T. Hänsch and A. Schawlow in 1975 [3], who suggested that the laser light can be used to slow down atoms. The 1980s brought such significant achievements as the first stopping of an atomic beam with a laser light by W. Phillips and H. Metcalf [4], creation of the optical molasses (OM) by Chu et al [5] at Bell Laboratories and construction of the magneto-optical trap (MOT) by Raab et al [6] at the same laboratory.…”

“…In this paper we briefly review the essential cooling mechanisms related to the MOT, including both Doppler and sub-Doppler ones, and present our trap with some examples of the results. There are several excellent sources discussing many aspects of laser cooling at length [2,[23][24][25][26][27], our introductory treatment given below is based and benefits from these works.…”