Optical Dipole Traps for Neutral Atoms

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses optical dipole traps for neutral atoms. Methods for storage and trapping of charged and neutral particles have very often served as the experimental key to great scientific advances, covering physics in the vast energy range from elementary particles to ultracold atomic quantum matter. It describes the basic physics of dipole trapping in fardetuned light, the typical experimental techniques and procedures, and the different trap types currently available, along with their specific features. In the experiments discussed, optical dipole traps have already shown great promise for a variety of different applications. Of particular importance is the trapping of atoms in the absolute internal ground state, which cannot be trapped magnetically. In this state, inelastic binary collisions are completely suppressed for energetic reasons. In this respect, an ultracold cesium gas represents a particularly interesting situation, because Bose–Einstein condensation seems attainable only for the absolute ground state. Therefore, an optical trap may be the only way to realize a quantum-degenerate gas of Cs atoms. Further, optical dipole traps can be seen as storage devices at the low end of the presently explorable energy scale. Future experiments exploiting the particular advantages of these traps can reveal interesting new phenomena.