Recently, laser cooling methods have been extended from atoms to molecules. The complex rotational and vibrational energy level structure of molecules makes laser cooling difficult, but these difficulties have been overcome and molecules have now been cooled to a few microkelvin and trapped for several seconds. This opens many possibilities for app...
This dissertation focuses on observing and controlling cold atom-ion collisions. Such collisions have numerous applications ranging from providing insight into the formation of the interstellar medium to presenting a potential platform for developing quantum information architectures. The experimental apparatus at the center of this work is a hybri...
Results of simulations presented in our paper "Laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of molecules analyzed using optical Bloch equations and the Fokker-Planck-Kramers equation" / Results of simulations presented in our paper "Laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of molecules analyzed using optical Bloch equations and the Fokker-Planck-Kr...
We theoretically investigate the damping and trapping forces in a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT), by numerically solving the optical Bloch equations. We focus on the case where there are dark states because the atom is driven on a ”type-II" system where the angular momentum of the excited state, F', is less than or equal to that of th...
In the perspective of studying dipole-dipole interactions in quantum degenerate Bose and Fermi gases, we have built an experimental setup for cooling and trapping Chromium (Cr) atoms. In this respect, one needs to use appropriate technological solution, such as a high-temperature oven (∼ 1500◦C) and a laser system providing high laser power at 425n...
Ce travail s'inscrit dans la perspective d'obtenir des gaz quantiques dipolaires : condensat
de Bose-Einstein du 52Cr et mer de Fermi dégénérée du 53Cr. Le fort moment magnétique de 6 µB
dans l'état fondamental, la structure électronique en lambda et la présence d'un isotope fermionique rendent
en effet l'atome de chrome attractif pour des expériences...
This thesis presents studies of quantum degenerate
atomic gases of fermionic $^6$Li and bosonic $^7$Li. Degeneracy is
reached by evaporative cooling of $^7$Li in a strongly confining
magnetic trap. Since at low temperatures direct evaporative
cooling is not possible for a polarized fermionic gas, $^6$Li is
sympathetically cooled by thermal contact with ...
