Encyclopedia … combined with a great Buyer's Guide!

Doppler Limit

Author: the photonics expert (RP)

Definition: a limit for the temperature which is achievable with certain laser cooling techniques

Category: article belongs to category quantum optics quantum optics

DOI: 10.61835/rda   Cite the article: BibTex plain textHTML   Link to this page   LinkedIn

The temperature achievable with Doppler cooling, a type of laser cooling, is given by the Doppler limit:

$${T_{\rm{D}}} = \frac{{\hbar \gamma }}{{2{k_{\rm{B}}}}}$$

where <$\gamma$> is the inverse upper-state lifetime, related to the natural linewidth of the atomic transition, and <$k_\textrm{B}$> is the Boltzmann constant. Typical values for the Doppler limit are of the order of hundreds of microkelvins.

Temperatures below the Doppler limit can be reached, e.g. with Sisyphus cooling or with velocity-selective coherent population trapping. It is then possible to reach the lower recoil limit, or even lower temperatures.

More to Learn

Encyclopedia articles:

Questions and Comments from Users

Here you can submit questions and comments. As far as they get accepted by the author, they will appear above this paragraph together with the author’s answer. The author will decide on acceptance based on certain criteria. Essentially, the issue must be of sufficiently broad interest.

Please do not enter personal data here. (See also our privacy declaration.) If you wish to receive personal feedback or consultancy from the author, please contact him, e.g. via e-mail.

Spam check:

By submitting the information, you give your consent to the potential publication of your inputs on our website according to our rules. (If you later retract your consent, we will delete those inputs.) As your inputs are first reviewed by the author, they may be published with some delay.

preview

Share this with your network:

Follow our specific LinkedIn pages for more insights and updates: