Abstract

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 $1\mathrm{K}$, this method efficiently cools very hot atoms and can sufficiently localize trapped atoms to produce near diffraction-limited atomic images.

© 2006 Optical Society of America

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