Narrow-line magneto-optical cooling and trapping of strongly magnetic atoms

Abstract

Laser cooling on weak transitions is a useful technique for reaching ultracold temperatures in atoms with multiple valence electrons. However, for strongly magnetic atoms a conventional narrow-line magneto-optical trap (MOT) is destabilized by competition between optical and magnetic forces. We overcome this difficulty in Er by developing an unusual narrow-line MOT that balances optical and magnetic forces using laser light tuned to the blue side of a narrow (8 kHz) transition. The trap population is spin-polarized with temperatures reaching below 2 microkelvin. Our results constitute an alternative method for laser cooling on weak transitions, applicable to rare-earth-metal and metastable alkaline earth elements.

To appear in Phys. Rev. Lett. 4 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (1)

• Sub-Doppler laser cooling and magnetic trapping of erbium

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