Cavity Cooling Below the Recoil Limit

Abstract

Mr. Cool: Laser cooling of atoms relies on the presence of electronic transitions of specific structure, making it practical for a limited number of atomic species at relatively low densities. Alternative methods include those involving optical cavities, where atom-cavity interaction enables cooling without the need for resonant transitions. Wolke et al. (p. 75 ) present such a cooling scheme that was used to heat and then cool a Bose-Einstein condensate of Rb atoms. The method should be applicable to hotter samples where a sequence of laser pulses of different frequencies would need to be used.