New applications of ultrafast lasers

Broadband laser cooling of trapped atoms with ultrafast pulses. pdf

B. B. Blinov,* R. N. Kohn, Jr., M. J. Madsen, P. Maunz, D. L. Moehring, and C. Monroe
FOCUS Center and Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-1040

We demonstrate broadband laser cooling of atomic ions in an rf trap using ultrafast pulses from a mode-locked laser. The temperature of a single ion is measured by observing the size of a time-averaged image of the ion in the known harmonic trap potential. Although the lowest observed temperature was only about 1 K, this method efficiently cools very hot atoms and can sufficiently localize trapped atoms to produce near diffraction limited atomic images.

Efficient photoionization loading of trapped ions with ultrafast pulses pdf
PHYSICAL REVIEW A 74, 063421 2006

L. Deslauriers, M. Acton, B. B. Blinov, K.-A. Brickman, P. C. Haljan, W. K. Hensinger, D. Hucul, S. Katnik,
R. N. Kohn, Jr., P. J. Lee, M. J. Madsen, P. Maunz, S. Olmschenk, D. L. Moehring, D. Stick, J. Sterk, M. Yeo,
K. C. Younge, and C. Monroe
FOCUS Center, Optical Physics Interdisciplinary Laboratory and Department of Physics, University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA

Atomic cadmium ions are loaded into radiofrequency ion traps by photoionization of atoms in a cadmium
vapor with ultrafast laser pulses. The photoionization is driven through an intermediate atomic resonance with
a frequency-quadrupled mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser that produces pulses of either 100-fs or 1-ps duration at
a central wavelength of 229 nm. The large bandwidth of the pulses photoionizes all velocity classes of the Cd
vapor, resulting in a high loading efficiency compared to previous ion trap loading techniques. Measured
loading rates are compared with a simple theoretical model, and we conclude that this technique can potentially
ionize every atom traversing the laser beam within the trapping volume. This may allow the operation of ion
traps with lower levels of background pressures and less trap electrode surface contamination. The technique
and laser system reported here should be applicable to loading most laser-cooled ion species.
 

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