About: Gray molasses
Gray molasses is a method of sub-Doppler laser cooling of atoms. It employs principles from Sisyphus cooling in conjunction with a so-called "dark" state whose transition to the excited state is not addressed by the resonant lasers. Ultracold atomic physics experiments on atomic species with poorly-resolved hyperfine structure, like isotopes of lithiumand potassium,often utilize gray molasses instead of Sisyphus cooling as a secondary cooling stage after the ubiquitous magneto-optical trap (MOT) to achieve temperatures below the Doppler limit. Unlike a MOT, which combines a molasses force with a confining force, a gray molasses can only slow but not trap atoms; hence, its efficacy as a cooling mechanism lasts only milliseconds before further cooling and trapping stages must be employed.
