F F:

i.:

i:

Applications
successfully utilized is the creation and decay of excitons in a semiconductor crystal'

319

12.13.5

Plasma diagnostics

Many interesting properties of plasmas may be deduced by their scatter of laser light.

'12.13.6 Plasmaheating
A plasma may be heated to high temperatures by absorbing energy from
powerful lasers.

12.13.7 Acoustics
Properties of high-frequency (in the GHz ranee) acoustic *,aves in solids may
be studied by interacting them with laser light.

12.'13.8 Genetics
chromosomes may be destroyed selectively bv illuminating single cells with
focused laser beams.

12.13.9 Metrology
The velociry of light mav be determined fron.r rhe reiationship. c : ui., by measuring the frequency and wavelength olcertain laser oscillations. The laser is stabilized by locking it ro a molecular absorption line. and its frequency is measured by comparing it rvith an accuratelv known frequency. which is multiplied up from the microwave into the optical range. The wavelength is measured independently bll interferometric methods. The accuracy with which know the velocir-v of light u'as improved this way by a factor of hundred.

'l'e

12.13.10 Manipulation of atoms by light

There are many ways of doing so, all very interesting but leading too far away from our central direction. It is, hou,ever, definitely worthwhile to look at least at one ofthose interactions responsible for cooling.

From what we have done so far. it is easy to deduce that lasers can heat materials. But cool them? How is that possible'l In fact, if we take Doppler cooling as an exarnple the principles are quite simple.* Let us imagine a lD gas in rvhich atoms move with random velocities, and assume the existence of two counterpropagating laser u,aves of the same intensity and same frequency. The tiequency is chosen so that it is a little below an atomic resonant frequency. Both beams exert a force upon the atoms due to their radiation pressure. If the atom is stationary these rrvo forces cancel each other. when the atom moves, the apparent frequencies of the two waves are Doppler shifted. The
counterpropagating wave gets closer to resonance, and the copropagating wave gets farther away. The one that is closer to resonance exerts a higher force upon the atom, and hence the net effect is to slorv down the atom. Atoms being slowed

+ Not so simple in the general case. The 1997 Nobel Prize was arvarded to Steven Chu, Claude Cohen-Tannoudji,

and William D. Phillips for development

of methods to cool and trap atoms with

laser light.