@article{13577,
  keywords = {Atomic and molecular interactions with photons, Quantum metrology},
  author = {Vera Schäfer and Zhijing Niu and Julia Cline and Dylan Young and Eric Song and Helmut Ritsch and James Thompson},
  title = {Continuous recoil-driven lasing and cavity frequency pinning with laser-cooled atoms},
  abstract = {Laser-cooled gases of atoms interacting with the field of an optical cavity are a versatile tool for quantum sensing and the simulation of quantum systems. These systems can exhibit phenomena such as self-organization phase transitions, lasing mechanisms, squeezed states and protection of quantum coherence. However, investigations of these phenomena typically occur in a discontinuous manner due to the need to reload atomic ensembles. Here we demonstrate hours-long continuous lasing from laser-cooled 88Sr atoms loaded into a ring cavity. The required inversion to produce lasing arises from inversion in the atomic-momentum degrees of freedom, which is linked to the self-organization phase transitions and collective atomic recoil lasing observed previously only in a cyclic fashion. We find that over a broad parameter range, the sensitivity of the lasing frequency to changes in cavity frequency is significantly reduced due to an atomic loss mechanism, suggesting a potential approach for mitigating low-frequency cavity noise. Our findings open opportunities for continuous cavity quantum electrodynamics experiments and robust and continuous super-radiant lasers.},
  year = {2025},
  journal = {Nature Physics},
  pages = {1-7},
  month = {2025-04},
  issn = {1745-2481},
  url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02854-4},
  doi = {10.1038/s41567-025-02854-4},
  note = {Publisher: Nature Publishing Group},
  language = {en},
}