Colder and Better: Some New Developments in Laser Cooling, Trapping and Manipulation of Atoms

Abstract

This paper is a short summary of a presentation given at the Fourteenth International Conference on Atomic Physics in Boulder CO, August 1994. It describes several recent advances in the field of laser cooling, trapping and manipulation of neutral atoms: adiabatic transfer of linear momentum from light to atoms; trapping and cooling atoms in optical lattices; evaporative cooling of alkali atoms held in magnetic traps; cyclic cooling of atoms in a magnetic trap; and optical shielding of laser‐cooled and trapped atoms from collisions with other cold atoms. Some of the work described was done in my own laboratory at NIST in Gaithersburg, and some in other laboratories. I have tried to choose topics complementary to those treated by other speakers at the conference. This paper is intended more as a guide to the literature on the subjects treated than a complete treatment in itself.