A two-photon mechanism for cooling atoms below the Doppler temperature is analyzed. We consider the magnesium ladder system (3s²)¹S₀→(3s3p)¹P₁ at 285.20.3em0exnm followed by the (3s3p)¹P₁→(3s3d)¹D₂ transition at 880.70.3em0exnm. For the ladder system quantum coherence effects may become important. Combined with the basic two-level Doppler cooling process this allows for reduction of the atomic sample temperature by more than a factor of 10 over a broad frequency range. First experimental evidence for the two-photon cooling process is presented and compared to model calculations. Agreement between theory and experiment is excellent. In addition, by properly choosing the Rabi frequencies of the two optical transitions a velocity independent atomic dark state is observed.
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Malossi et al. (2005) studied this question.
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