TY - JOUR
KW - Atomic and molecular interactions with photons
KW - Quantum metrology
AU - Vera Schäfer
AU - Zhijing Niu
AU - Julia Cline
AU - Dylan Young
AU - Eric Song
AU - Helmut Ritsch
AU - James Thompson
AB - 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.
BT - Nature Physics
DA - 2025-04
DO - 10.1038/s41567-025-02854-4
LA - en
N1 - Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
N2 - 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.
PY - 2025
SP - 1
EP - 7
T2 - Nature Physics
TI - Continuous recoil-driven lasing and cavity frequency pinning with laser-cooled atoms
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41567-025-02854-4
SN - 1745-2481
ER -