Abstract
The characteristics of dissipative mechanical forces acting on strongly driven atoms depend on the spontaneous decay rate of the driven transition. In previous studies,1 it has been assumed that the spontaneous decay rates arise from the coupling of the atoms to the free-space electromagnetic vacuum reservoir. Recently, it has been shown2 that new and novel physics can arise when the reservoir that mediates atomic relaxation is colored (frequency dependent) as can be accomplished by a suitably designed cavity or waveguide. We show that a two-level atom moving in an intense rest-frame-resonant standing-wave and decaying via coupling to a colored vacuum reservoir experiences a damping force (which is substantially larger than that predicted in other studies) useful in slowing the atom. This force, unlike traditional cooling forces, is effective over a dramatically wide range of atomic velocities. In fact, the force can be effective even for thermal velocity atoms if the vacuum is strongly colored.
© 1991 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
P. S. Julienne and W. D. Phillips
QWE2 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference (CLEO:FS) 1991
S. E. Morin, Daniel J. Gauthier, and T. W. Mossberg
FO4 OSA Annual Meeting (FIO) 1991
Peter Horak, Jean-Yves Courtois, and Gilbert Grynberg
QMF8 European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC) 1998