Optical Forces in Multi-colored Light

Harold Metcalf,
State University of New York at Stony Brook

Since the early experiments in laser cooling of neutral atoms in the 1980's, carefully tuned monochromatic light has been used for controlling the atomic motion and manipulating the atoms. There are well-understood force and velocity-range limits from such forces. During the past few years we have experimented with bichromatic light and found that most of these limits are vastly extended, allowing cooling over a huge velocity range with a huge force. The experimental results and the model underlying them will be presented.