dc.contributor.advisor Hulet, Randall G. Sackett, Charles Ackley 2009-06-04T00:43:25Z 2009-06-04T00:43:25Z 1994 http://hdl.handle.net/1911/13890 A theoretical discussion of laser cooling of multilevel atomic systems using intense, blue detuned laser beams is given. A method based on matrix continued fractions is presented, which enables the efficient calculation of the semi-classical force on a multilevel system. The method is applied to a three-level system driven by one standing wave and one travelling wave. The force curves obtained exhibit strong cooling features. Cooling of the three-level system is simulated using the fully quantum mechanical Monte Carlo wave function technique. The simulation predicts efficient cooling to sub-Doppler temperatures. The three-level model is related to a multilevel cooling experiment performed on $\sp7$Li. The experimental results are found to be in reasonable agreement with the three-level model. However, a comparison of the simulation and experiment for a two-level atomic system reveals significant discrepancies, which raises questions about the model and experiment. 72 p. application/pdf eng Atomic physicsOptics Dipole force cooling of multilevel atoms Thesis Text Physics Natural Sciences Rice University Masters Master of Arts Sackett, Charles Ackley. "Dipole force cooling of multilevel atoms." (1994) Masters, Rice University. http://hdl.handle.net/1911/13890.
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