Cold and trapped metastable noble gases

Wim Vassen, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, Michele Leduc, Denis Boiron, Christoph I. Westbrook, Andrew Truscott, Ken Baldwin, Gerhard Birkl, Pablo Cancio, and Marek Trippenbach
Rev. Mod. Phys. 84, 175 – Published 24 February 2012

Abstract

Experimental work on cold, trapped metastable noble gases is reviewed. The aspects which distinguish work with these atoms from the large body of work on cold, trapped atoms in general is emphasized. These aspects include detection techniques and collision processes unique to metastable atoms. Several experiments exploiting these unique features in fields including atom optics and statistical physics are described. Precision measurements on these atoms including fine structure splittings, isotope shifts, and atomic lifetimes are also discussed.

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  • Received 25 May 2011

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/RevModPhys.84.175

© 2012 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Wim Vassen*

  • LaserLaB Vrije Universiteit, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Claude Cohen-Tannoudji and Michele Leduc

  • Ecole Normale Superieure and College de France, Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France

Denis Boiron and Christoph I. Westbrook

  • Laboratoire Charles Fabry de l’Institut d’Optique, CNRS, Univ Paris-Sud, Campus Polytechnique RD128 91127 Palaiseau France

Andrew Truscott and Ken Baldwin§

  • ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia

Gerhard Birkl

  • Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schlossgartenstraße 7, 64289 Darmstadt, Germany

Pablo Cancio

  • Istituto Nazionale di Ottica (INO-CNR) and European Laboratory for Non-linear Spectroscopy (LENS), Via N. Carrara 1, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino FI, Italy

Marek Trippenbach**

  • Wydzial Fizyki, Uniwersytet Warszawski, ul. Hoza 69, 00-681 Warszawa, Polska

  • *w.vassen@vu.nl
  • leduc@lkb.ens.fr
  • christoph.westbrook@institutoptique.fr
  • §kenneth.baldwin@anu.edu.au
  • gerhard.birkl@physik.tu-darmstadt.de
  • pablo.canciopastor@ino.it
  • **matri@fuw.edu.pl

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Vol. 84, Iss. 1 — January - March 2012

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