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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2016 May 27.
Published in final edited form as: Appl Phys Rev. 2016 Mar 24;3(1):011302. doi: 10.1063/1.4944491

FIG. 4.

FIG. 4

(a) Light force. Laser light with momentum in a single direction is absorbed by an atom and re-radiated in all directions, resulting in a net transfer of momentum to the atom. (b) Laser cooling. The scattering rate is shown for an atom at rest with a laser tuned to the red of atomic resonance. For atoms with a velocity (+v) in a direction opposite to the laser direction, the Doppler shift increases the apparent laser frequency and the laser light is absorbed more strongly compared to atoms travelling with velocity −v. The result is a velocity-dependent force that damps the atomic motion.