A Bose-Einstein condensate was produced in a vapor of rubidium-87 atoms that was confined by magnetic fields and evaporatively cooled. The condensate fraction first appeared near a temperature of 170 nanokelvin and a number density of 2.5 x 10 12 per cubic centimeter and could be preserved for more than 15 seconds. Three primary signatures of Bose-Einstein condensation were seen. (i) On top of a broad thermal velocity distribution, a narrow peak appeared that was centered at zero velocity. (ii) The fraction of the atoms that were in this low-velocity peak increased abruptly as the sample temperature was lowered. (iii) The peak exhibited a nonthermal, anisotropic velocity distribution expected of the minimum-energy quantum state of the magnetic trap in contrast to the isotropic, thermal velocity distribution observed in the broad uncondensed fraction.

/pdf/observation-of-bose-einstein-condensation-in-a-dilute-atomic-2wpb5ks2pi.pdf

Observation of Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Dilute Atomic Vapor

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) has been observed in a dilute gas of sodium atoms. A Bose-Einstein condensate consists of a macroscopic population of the ground state of the system, and is a coherent state of matter. In an ideal gas, this phase transition is purely quantum-statistical. The study of BEC in weakly interacting systems which can be controlled and observed with precision holds the promise of revealing new macroscopic quantum phenomena that can be understood from first principles.

Bose-Einstein condensation in a gas of sodium atoms

Modern nanotechnology allows one to scale down various important devices (sensors, chips, fibers, etc.) and thus opens up new horizons for their applications. The efficiency of most of them is based on fundamental physical phenomena, such as transport of wave excitations and resonances. Short propagation distances make phase-coherent processes of waves important. Often the scattering of waves involves propagation along different paths and, as a consequence, results in interference phenomena, where constructive interference corresponds to resonant enhancement and destructive interference to resonant suppression of the transmission. Recently, a variety of experimental and theoretical work has revealed such patterns in different physical settings. The purpose of this review is to relate resonant scattering to Fano resonances, known from atomic physics. One of the main features of the Fano resonance is its asymmetric line profile. The asymmetry originates from a close coexistence of resonant transmission and resonant reflection and can be reduced to the interaction of a discrete (localized) state with a continuum of propagation modes. The basic concepts of Fano resonances are introduced, their geometrical and/or dynamical origin are explained, and theoretical and experimental studies of light propagation in photonic devices, charge transport through quantum dots, plasmon scattering in Josephson-junction networks, and matter-wave scattering in ultracold atom systems, among others are reviewed.

/pdf/fano-resonances-in-nanoscale-structures-2c8qeas3bm.pdf

Fano resonances in nanoscale structures

Electromagnetic traps for charged and neutral particles

The techniques of optical trapping and manipulation of neutral particles by lasers provide unique means to control the dynamics of small particles. These new experimental methods have played a revolutionary role in areas of the physical and biological sciences. This paper reviews the early developments in the field leading to the demonstration of cooling and trapping of neutral atoms in atomic physics and to the first use of optical tweezers traps in biology. Some further major achievements of these rapidly developing methods also are considered.

/pdf/optical-trapping-and-manipulation-of-neutral-particles-using-4qf0uymz6l.pdf

Optical trapping and manipulation of neutral particles using lasers

The generally accepted theory of laser cooling of free atoms predicts that the lowest achievable temperature is given by kaT = hγ/2, where kB is Boltzmann's constant arid γ is the natural linewidth of the transition for laser cooling. This "Doppler cooling limit" results from the minimization of the detuning-dependent temperature at low laser power1:

https://link.aps.org/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.61.169

Observation of atoms laser cooled below the Doppler limit

Deceleration and velocity bunching of Na atoms in an atomic beam have been observed. The deceleration, caused by absorption of counterpropagating resonant laser light, amounts to 40% of the initial thermal velocity, corresponding to about 15 000 absorptions. Atoms were kept in resonance with the laser by using a spatially varying magnetic field to provide a changing Zeeman shift to compensate for the changing Doppler shift as the atoms decelerated.

https://link.aps.org/pdf/10.1103/PhysRevLett.48.596

Laser Deceleration of an Atomic Beam

We report the first observation of electromagnetically trapped neutral atoms. Laser cooled and stopped sodium atoms are confined in a magnetic quadrupole trap formed by two opposed, separated, coaxial current loops. The decay time constant for atoms in the trap is 0.83(7) s and is limited mainly by collisions with background gas atoms.

First observation of magnetically trapped neutral atoms.

This article presents a review of some of the principal techniques of laser cooling and trapping that have been developed during the past 20 years. Its approach is primarily experimental, but its quantitative descriptions are consistent in notation with most of the theoretical literature.


Keywords:

laser cooling;
atom trapping;
optical lattice;
Bose–Einstein condensation

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/9783527600441.oe005

Laser Cooling and Trapping of Neutral Atoms

In view of the recent successful confinement of decelerated sodium atoms in a magnetostatic trap, it is of interest to evaluate possible trap-field configurations. Neutral atoms in a Zeeman sublevel whose energy increases with field can be confined by a field whose magnitude \ensuremath{\Vert}B\ensuremath{\Vert} increases with distance from the center. Because this same basic requirement applies also to traps for neutrons and for plasmas (in the guiding-center approximation), trap configurations developed previously for these purposes are of interest for neutral atoms. However, the desired properties differ considerably because of very different objectives and different behavior of very cold atoms as compared with hot plasmas. We characterize basic trap configurations using both the exact expressions for the field, and a multipole polynomial expansion that facilitates studies of symmetry properties and classical or quantum orbits. Polynomial terms for the field components are derived and coefficients obtained by comparison with Taylor-series expansions and by global fit. Contours of \ensuremath{\Vert}B\ensuremath{\Vert} for various trap configurations are also presented. Under certain restrictive conditions, \ensuremath{\Vert}B\ensuremath{\Vert}, and hence the effective potential, can be made isotropic to second order.

Harold Metcalf

Papers

Observation of atoms laser cooled below the Doppler limit

Laser Deceleration of an Atomic Beam

First observation of magnetically trapped neutral atoms.

Laser Cooling and Trapping of Neutral Atoms

Magnetostatic trapping fields for neutral atoms