Abstract

The purpose of this tutorial is to introduce the listener to the rapidly developing field of laser cooling and trapping. Doppler cooling is first discussed followed by the new mechanism of cooling based on ground-state energy level shifts in light fields with polarization gradients. Next, the basic concepts of magnetic traps, optical dipole force traps (optical tweezers), and the magnetooptic trap are considered. Selected uses of these traps and cooling techniques are given to elucidate the broad utility of these techniques.

© 1991 Optical Society of America