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Updated: Aug 4, 2026

Direct Imaging of Laser-driven Ultrafast Molecular Rotation
Published on: February 4, 2017
Laser cooling of atoms, ions, or molecules by coherent scattering
Abstract:
We point out a laser cooling method for atoms, molecules, or ions at low saturation and large detuning from the particles' resonances. The moving particle modifies the field inside a cavity with a time delay characteristic of the cavity linewidth, while the field acts on the particle via the light shift. The dissipative mechanism can be interpreted as Doppler cooling based on preferential scattering rather than preferential absorption. It depends on particle properties only through the coherent scattering rate, opening new possibilities for optically cooling molecules or interacting atoms.
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