Cold Ytterbium atoms in high-finesse optical cavities: Cavity cooling and collective interactions

The quantum behavior of cold matter interacting with photons confined in high-finesse cavities is a subject of high interest for quantum communication, for studying properties of ultra-cold quantum gases, as well as for precision measurements. In particular promising schemes for enhanced laser cooling based on cavity feedback have been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally. The paper presents the first results from a cavity QED experiment with ytterbium atoms which is suitable for cavity-QED-based atom-photon interfaces as well as for studying collective excitation of a cold atomic cloud interacting with the standing wave of a resonator, with the perspective of using this system for investigating new cooling mechanisms based on atom-cavity interaction.