Cooling of atoms using an optical frequency comb

We report on laser cooling of neutral rubidium atoms by using a single mode of a frequency comb. Cooling is achieved on a dipole-allowed transition at 780 nm in a one-dimensional retro-reflected beam geometry. Temperatures are measured using standard time-of-flight imaging. We show the dependence of the temperature on the cooling time, intensity and detuning of the frequency comb. The lowest temperature achieved is approximately equal to the Doppler temperature and is limited by the intensity of the comb mode driving the cooling transition. Additionally, we verify the analogy between frequency comb and continuous-wave laser cooling. Our work is a step towards laser cooling of atoms with strong cycling transitions in the vacuum ultraviolet, such as hydrogen, deuterium and antihydrogen, where generation of continuous-wave laser light is limited by current laser technology. Achieving efficient cooling at these wavelengths would significantly improve the precision of optical frequency standards, enable measurements of fundamental constants with unprecedented accuracy, improve tests of charge, parity, and time reversal symmetry, and open the way to achieving quantum degeneracy width new atomic species.