Lasers and Their Application in the Cooling and Trapping of Atoms (Second Edition)

Abstract

This Second Edition describes the basic design and operation of a variety of types of lasers. It overviews some of the traditional applications of lasers, such as laser printers and laser machining. It also describes an unconventional application of lasers: the cooling and confinement of atoms at very low temperature. Ultracold atoms have a number of possible applications that include study of Bose–Einstein condensates. The book reviews traditional Bose–Einstein condensate experiments, as well as zero-gravity experiments and experiments on quasiparticle condensates. Other applications of ultracold atoms include highly accurate atomic clocks, and their use as a time standard. This research and reference text is aimed at science and engineering professionals as well as upper level undergraduate and graduate physics students. Part of <a href="https://iopscience.iop.org/bookListInfo/series-in-coherent-sources-and-applications#series">IOP Series in Coherent Sources, Quantum Fundamentals, and Applications</a>. Key features • Provides an overview of the basic principles of lasers and reviews typology and operation. • Summarizes the important applications of lasers. • Covers the basic theory behind Bose–Einstein condensates in an accessible format. • Summarizes historical and recent results of Bose-Einstein condensate experiments.