Development of an optimal laser for chirp cooling of positronium based on chirped pulse-train generator

TL;DR

This paper reports the development of a specialized 243 nm pulsed laser based on a chirped pulse-train generator, optimized for cooling positronium atoms through chirp cooling, enabling potential experimental demonstrations.

Contribution

The paper introduces a laser system with specific chirp and linewidth characteristics tailored for positronium cooling, based on recent CPTG technology.

Findings

Laser meets chirp rate and linewidth requirements for efficient cooling.

Time-resolved spectroscopy confirms laser performance.

Pulse energy of hundreds of microjoules supports Ps laser cooling experiments.

Abstract

We report the development and characterization of a pulsed 243 nm laser that is optimal for the cooling of positronium (Ps). The laser, which is based on the recent chirped pulse-train generator (CPTG) demonstrated by K. Yamada et al. (Phys. Rev. Appl. 16, 014009 (2021)), was designed to output a train of pulses with linewidths of 10 GHz, and with the center frequency of each pulse shifting upward (up-chirped) in time by $4.9\times10^2\,\mathrm{GHz\,\mu s^{-1}}$. These parameters were determined by the mechanism of chirp cooling, which is the best scheme for cooling many Ps atoms to the recoil temperature of laser cooling. To achieve the designed performance, we drove an optical phase modulator in the CPTG with a deep modulation depth based on the operating principle of the cooling laser. Time-resolved spectroscopic measurements confirmed that the developed laser satisfied the chirp rate and linewidth requirements for efficient chirp cooling. Combined with pulse energy of hundreds of microjoules, we believe that the experimental demonstration of Ps laser cooling has become possible using realistic methods for the generation and velocity measurement of Ps.