Optical cooling of atoms in microtraps by time-delayed reflection

TL;DR

This paper proposes a new theoretical scheme for cooling trapped particles using time-delayed reflection of a laser beam, which induces nonconservative forces without needing a closed optical transition.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical cooling method leveraging time-delayed reflection and provides a quantum model analysis in the semiclassical limit.

Findings

The scheme can cool particles without closed optical transitions.

Time-delayed reflection creates a nonconservative force and friction.

Theoretical analysis demonstrates potential effectiveness of the method.

Abstract

We present a theoretical analysis of a novel scheme for optical cooling of particles that does not in principle require a closed optical transition. A tightly confined laser beam interacting with a trapped particle experiences a phase shift, which upon reflection from a mirror or resonant microstructure produces a time-delayed optical potential for the particle. This leads to a nonconservative force and friction. A quantum model of the system is presented and analyzed in the semiclassical limit.