Minimization of temperature for laser cooling of Yb-ion-doped crystals.

In this paper, quantum mechanical calculations of cooling characteristics for the Yb:  YLF system with use of the vibronic model of laser cooling are presented. Dynamics of the laser cooling process for the seven-level system of an Yb ion is described by the density-matrix formalism. Dependences of the cooling characteristics on the pump intensity are obtained for various temperatures and absorption coefficients of impurity ions. It is shown that the pump intensity, at which the net cooling power has a maximum, depends on temperature. Thus, choosing the intensities, which correspond to the net cooling power maximum over the entire temperature range, we achieve a lower sample temperature at a shorter time than in the case of using a constant intensity throughout the cooling process. Calculations are performed for the parameters of the Yb:YLF system.