Doppler-Free Saturation Spectroscopy with Rb
By Ophelia
Atoms nominally move frenetically. One way to slow, or freeze, atoms, is to use a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT). The "Optical" part of the MOT refers to using a laser to impede the atom's motion --- essentially like someone trying to walk forward while someone is pushing them backwards. However, in order for the laser to effectively interfere with the atom, the laser must be incredibly finely tuned, or locked, to the atom's unique vibrational frequency. Doppler-Free Saturation Spectroscopy is one such method of laser locking. One common atom used in MOTs is rubidium. This is the atom I will be using to construct a DFSS apparatus, hopefully in future service of TJ producing a MOT-like object. MOTs are useful across many fields, including, but not limited to, Bose-Einstein condensates, atomic clocks, and quantum computers.