Abstract

The ultimate goal of laser cooling is to prepare ions in the ground state of the trapping potential. This can be achieved by sideband cooling.^{1 3} For a two-level system moving in a harmonic oscillator, the condition for sideband cooling is v > Γ, where ν is the trap frequency and Г is the spontaneous-decay rate. In this strong-confinement limit the absorption spectrum of the ion exhibits well-resolved sidebands because of the harmonic motion of the ion. Tuning the laser to the lower motional sideband results in an optical pumping and efficient transfer into the vibrational ground state.

© 1994 Optical Society of America