Sub-Doppler laser cooling of potassium atoms

We investigate the sub-Doppler laser cooling of bosonic potassium isotopes, whose small hyperfine splitting has so far prevented cooling below the Doppler temperature. We find instead that the combination of a dark optical molasses scheme that naturally arises in this kind of system and an adiabatic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. A, Atomic, molecular, and optical physics Atomic, molecular, and optical physics, 2011-10, Vol.84 (4), Article 043432
Main Authors: Landini, M., Roy, S., Carcagní, L., Trypogeorgos, D., Fattori, M., Inguscio, M., Modugno, G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
COOLING
LASERS
POTASSIUM
POTASSIUM 39
POTASSIUM 41
TEMPERATURE RANGE 0013-0065 K
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Summary:We investigate the sub-Doppler laser cooling of bosonic potassium isotopes, whose small hyperfine splitting has so far prevented cooling below the Doppler temperature. We find instead that the combination of a dark optical molasses scheme that naturally arises in this kind of system and an adiabatic ramping of the laser parameters allows us to reach sub-Doppler temperatures for small laser detunings. We demonstrate temperatures as low as 25{+-}3 {mu}K and 47{+-}5 {mu}K in high-density samples of the two isotopes {sup 39}K and {sup 41}K, respectively. Our findings should find application to other atomic systems.
ISSN:1050-2947
1094-1622
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevA.84.043432