Laser Cooling Positronium with Broadband Laser Pulses

Abstract

The first successful demonstration of broadband laser cooling of positronium (Ps) atoms, obtained within the AEgIS experiment at CERN, is presented here. By employing a custom-designed pulsed alexandrite laser system at 243 nm featuring long-duration pulses of 70 ns and an energy able to saturate the 13S–23P transition over the broad spectrum range of 360 GHz, the temperature of a room-temperature Ps cloud was reduced from 380 K to 170 K in 70 ns. This advancement opens new avenues for precision spectroscopy, antihydrogen production, and fundamental tests with antimatter.