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Laser Cooling and Trapping of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanoparticles

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Optics and Lasers".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 6679

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Guest Editor
Department of Engineering Physics, Polytechnique Montréal, P.O. Box 6079, Station Centre-ville, Montréal, QC H3C 3A7, Canada
Interests: fiber optics; optical fibers; applied optics; radiation-balanced fiber lasers and amplifiers; nanophotonics; nonlinear optics; laser cooling of solids; quantum optics
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In 1970, Arthur Ashkin showed that the use of optical forces to alter the motion of microparticles and neutral atoms could have applications in the manipulation of microscopic particles and of single atoms. These pioneering works have formed the basis for two very successful research areas: laser cooling of atoms and optical trapping. Today, these well-developed techniques are common tools for the manipulation of atoms, molecules and particles. For example, optically levitated nanoparticles have been laser-cooled towards their quantum-mechanical ground state, optical tweezers have been developed to measure forces with femtonewton resolution and optical manipulation has been used to build composite nanoassemblies.

The aim of this Special Issue is to attract publications devoted to experimental and/or theoretical works on the latest achievements, trends and developments, including applications of laser cooling and trapping of atoms, molecules and nanoparticles. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • laser cooling of atoms, molecules, nanoparticles;
  • optical tweezers;
  • optical forces;
  • optical lattices;
  • structured light for optical tweezers;
  • Bose–Einstein condensate;
  • atomic fountains;
  • application of laser cooling in quantum science;
  • Raman cooling;
  • exotic laser cooling schemes.

Dr. Galina Nemova
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • laser cooling
  • optical trapping
  • optical tweezers
  • optical forces
  • optical lattices
  • Bose–Einstein condensate
  • structure light
  • Doppler cooling
  • polarization gradient (Sisyphus) cooling

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Review

17 pages, 3399 KiB  
Review
Magneto-Optical Traps for Cold Atomic Gravimetry: Research Status and Development Trends
by Rui Xu, An Li, Dongyi Li and Jiujiang Yan
Appl. Sci. 2023, 13(10), 6076; https://doi.org/10.3390/app13106076 - 15 May 2023
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3061
Abstract
The cold atomic gravimeter (CAG) has the advantage of high measurement accuracy and does not need to be calibrated on a regular basis. To achieve cold atom interference, it is first necessary to cool and trap the atoms by magneto-optical trap (MOT). However, [...] Read more.
The cold atomic gravimeter (CAG) has the advantage of high measurement accuracy and does not need to be calibrated on a regular basis. To achieve cold atom interference, it is first necessary to cool and trap the atoms by magneto-optical trap (MOT). However, there are many types of MOTs, and their trapping and cooling results directly affect the atomic interference, and thus, the measurement accuracy of a CAG. MOTs should be designed or selected correctly for different application needs. This paper reviews the research history of MOTs and analyzes their structure and principles. The current status of applications of different types of MOTs is highlighted. Their advantages and disadvantages are summarized, and perspectives for the development of MOTs for cold atomic gravimetry are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Cooling and Trapping of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanoparticles)
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15 pages, 5655 KiB  
Review
Laser Cooling and Trapping of Rare-Earth-Doped Particles
by Galina Nemova
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(8), 3777; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12083777 - 8 Apr 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2513
Abstract
This review focuses on optical refrigeration with the anti-Stokes fluorescence of rare-earth (RE)-doped low-phonon micro- and nanocrystals. Contrary to bulk samples, where the thermal energy is contained in internal vibrational modes (phonons), the thermal energy of nanoparticles is contained in both the translational [...] Read more.
This review focuses on optical refrigeration with the anti-Stokes fluorescence of rare-earth (RE)-doped low-phonon micro- and nanocrystals. Contrary to bulk samples, where the thermal energy is contained in internal vibrational modes (phonons), the thermal energy of nanoparticles is contained in both the translational motion and internal vibrational (phonons) modes of the sample. Much theoretical and experimental research is currently devoted to the laser cooling of nanoparticles. In the majority of the related work, only the translational energy of the particles has been suppressed. In this review, the latest achievements in hybrid optical refrigeration of RE-doped low-phonon micro- and nanoparticles are presented. Hybrid cooling permits the suppression of not only the translational energy of the RE-doped particles, but also their internal vibrational phonon thermal energy. Laser cooling of nanoparticles is not a simple task. Mie resonances can be used to enhance laser cooling with the anti-Stokes fluorescence of nanoparticles made of low-phonon RE-doped solids. Laser-cooled nanoparticles is a promising tool for fundamental quantum-mechanical studies, nonequilibrium thermodynamics, and precision measurements of forces. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Laser Cooling and Trapping of Atoms, Molecules, and Nanoparticles)
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