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arXiv:1212.1712 · Review of Scientific Instruments

Note: Computer controlled rotation mount for large diameter optics

Ana Rakonjac, K. O. Roberts, Amita B. Deb, Niels Kjærgaard

Published Feb 1, 2013• 5 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We describe the construction of a motorized optical rotation mount with a 40 mm clear aperture. The device is used to remotely control the power of large diameter laser beams for a magneto-optical trap. A piezo-electric ultrasonic motor on a printed circuit board provides rotation with a precision better than 0.03° and allows for a very compact design. The rotation unit is controlled from a computer via serial communication, making integration into most software control platforms straightforward.

DOI
10.1063/1.4791796

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We describe the construction of a motorized optical rotation mount with a 40 mm clear aperture. The device is used to remotely control the power of large diameter laser beams for a magneto-optical trap. A piezo-electric ultrasonic motor on a printed circuit board provides rotation with a precision better than 0.03° and allows for a very compact design. The rotation unit is controlled from a computer via serial communication, making integration into most software control platforms straightforward.
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We present a simple motorised rotation mount for a half-wave plate that can be used to rapidly change the polarization of light. We use the device to switch a high power laser beam between different optical dipole traps in an ultracold atom experiment. The device uses a stepper motor with a hollow shaft, which allows a beam to propagate along the axis of the motor shaft, minimising inertia and mechanical complexity. A simple machined adapter is used to mount the wave plate. We characterise the performance of the device, focusing on its capability to switch a beam between the output ports of a polarizing beamsplitter cube. We demonstrate a switching time of 15.9(3) ms, limited by the torque of the motor. The mount has a reaction time of 0.52(3) ms, and a rotational resolution of 0.45 degrees. The rotation is highly reproducible, with the stepper motor not missing a step in 2000 repeated tests over 11 hours.
We present a novel configuration of a magneto-optical trap for cold atoms. The trap is very simple in design, employing only a small permanent magnet and an external Helmholtz bias coil. The trap's principal advantage is that the entire volume of the overlapping laser beams can be used for atom guiding and manipulation. An especially interesting effect is the rotation of the trapped atoms in circular motion as the permanent magnet is rotated. Clouds containing on the order of 2*10(6) atoms are rotated up to 60Hz forming a 5 mm diameter ring. This rotation can potentially be used in studying the behavior of cold atoms in 2-dimensional potential as well as applications for rotational sensors. We also present a classical theoretical model to simulate the experiment.
Quantum optics laboratories are emerging as suitable educational platforms to complement quantum mechanics instruction and expose students to non-traditional demonstrations of quantum physics involving quantum superposition and measurement. The automation of these experiments offers an interesting alternative paradigm. In this contribution, I present the automation of laboratory experiments through motorized mounts that displace or rotate optical components, enabling remote execution of the experiments. Some additional benefits include improved repeatability and better preparation of photonic quantum states.
We present a magneto-optical trap (MOT) design based on millimeter ball lenses, contained within a metal cube of 19-mm side length. The ball lenses create highly divergent conical MOT trapping beams. In our experiment and in trajectory simulations, we study the effect of beam divergence and light-intensity gradients on MOT performance. We trap approximately $4.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}{\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms in our ball-lens MOT at a density of $3.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}\phantom{\rule{0.2em}{0ex}}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ and a loading time of 1.3 s. Experimental measurements and the trajectory model are used to calibrate the trapping efficiency in the highly divergent light fields of the ball lenses. The advantages of the design include small lens and chamber sizes favorable to miniaturization, the absence of large-diameter optical-beam pathways, and a low laser-power requirement. These features are conducive to atom-trap geometries with well-defined electromagnetic boundary conditions, as required for ion and plasma traps, and for efficient shielding of black-body and dc stray fields.