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Three-dimensional spatial diffusion in optical molasses

  • Cold Atoms, Atom Traps
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Abstract

We have studied the expansion of a small cloud of85Rb atoms in three-dimensional optical molasses (lin ⊥ lin and σ+ − σ− configurations) and observed diffusive motion. We determined the spatial-diffusion coefficients for various laser intensities and detunings, and compared them (in the case of lin ⊥ lin molasses) to values calculated from friction and momentum-diffusion coefficients of a one-dimensional (1D) theory of laser cooling. The predicted variations of the spatial-diffusion coefficient with laser intensity and detuning are in good qualitative agreement with the experimental data. We found that the minimal value observed experimentally, ≈ 6 × 10−4 cm2/s, lies within a factor of 3 of the 1D theoretical minimum, ≈, 26ħ/M, whereM is the atomic mass.

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Author notes

  1. T. W. Hodapp

    Present address: Physics Department, Hamline University, 55104, St. Paul, MN, USA

  2. C. Gerz

    Present address: GAO Company, Euckenstrasse 12, D-81369, München, Germany

  3. C. Furtlehner

    Present address: Department of Physics, Ecole Normale Supérieure, 45, rue d'Ulm, F-75005, Paris, France

  4. C. I. Westbrook

    Present address: Institut d'Optique Théorique et Apliquée, Centre Universitaire d'Orsay, B.P. 147, F-91403, Orsay Cedex, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Standards and Technology, U.S. Department of Commerce, Technology Administration, PHYS A167, 20899, Gaithersburg, MD, USA

    T. W. Hodapp, C. Gerz, C. Furtlehner, C. I. Westbrook & W. D. Phillips

  2. Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, Departement de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, 24, rue Lhomond, F-75005, Paris, France

    J. Dalibard

Authors
  1. T. W. Hodapp
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  2. C. Gerz
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  3. C. Furtlehner
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  4. C. I. Westbrook
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  5. W. D. Phillips
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  6. J. Dalibard
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Additional information

Dedicated to H. Walther on the occassion of his 60th birthday

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Hodapp, T.W., Gerz, C., Furtlehner, C. et al. Three-dimensional spatial diffusion in optical molasses. Appl. Phys. B 60, 135–143 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01135855

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01135855

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