Laser detuning

In optical physics, laser detuning is the tuning of a laser to a frequency that is slightly off from a quantum system's resonant frequency. Lasers can be detuned in the lab frame so that they are Doppler shifted to the resonant frequency in a moving system, which allows lasers to affect only atoms moving at a specific speed or in a specific direction and makes laser detuning a central tool of laser cooling^[1] and magneto-optical traps.^[2] Lasers tuned to a frequency below the resonant frequency are called red-detuned, and lasers tuned above resonance are called blue-detuned.^[2]

References

1. ^ Harold J. Metcalf; Peter Van der Straten (1999). Laser cooling and trapping. Springer. ISBN 978-0-387-98728-6. http://books.google.com/books?id=i-40VaXqrj0C. Retrieved 26 November 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Fritz Riehle (8 May 2006). Frequency Standards: Basics and Applications. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-3-527-60595-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=q9AKk3smIJwC. Retrieved 26 November 2011.