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arXiv:1212.2109 · Journal of Instrumentation

New approaches in designing a Zeeman Slower

Ben Ohayon, G Ron

Published Feb 22, 2013• 15 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We present two new approaches for the design of a Zeeman Slower, which rely on optimal compliance with the adiabatic following condition and are applicable to a wide variety of systems. The first approach is an analytical one, based on the assumption that the noise in the system is position independent. When compared with the traditional approach, which requires constant deceleration, for a typical system, we show an improvement of ∼ 10% in the maximal capture velocity, allowing for a larger slower acceptance, or a reduction of ∼ 25% in slower length, allowing for a simpler design and a better collimated beam. The second approach relies on an optimization of a system in which the magnetic field and the noise profile are well known. As an example, we use our 12-coil modular design and show an improvement of ∼ 9% in maximal capture velocity or, alternatively, a reduction of ∼ 33% in slower length as compared with the traditional approach.

DOI
10.1088/1748-0221/8/02/p02016

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We present two new approaches for the design of a Zeeman Slower, which rely on optimal compliance with the adiabatic following condition and are applicable to a wide variety of systems. The first approach is an analytical one, based on the assumption that the noise in the system is position independent. When compared with the traditional approach, which requires constant deceleration, for a typical system, we show an improvement of ∼ 10% in the maximal capture velocity, allowing for a larger slower acceptance, or a reduction of ∼ 25% in slower length, allowing for a simpler design and a better collimated beam. The second approach relies on an optimization of a system in which the magnetic field and the noise profile are well known. As an example, we use our 12-coil modular design and show an improvement of ∼ 9% in maximal capture velocity or, alternatively, a reduction of ∼ 33% in slower length as compared with the traditional approach.
We present a compact design of dual-beam Zeeman slower optimized for efficient production of cold atom applications. Traditional single-beam configurations face challenges from substantial residual atomic flux impacting downstream optical windows, resulting in increased system size, atomic deposition contamination, and a reduced operational lifetime. Our approach employs two oblique laser beams and a capillary-array collimation system to address these challenges while maintaining efficient deceleration. For rubidium (87^{87}87Rb), simulations demonstrate a significant increase in the fraction of atoms captured by a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D-MOT) and nearly eliminate atom-induced contamination probability at optical windows, all within a compact Zeeman slower length of 44 cm. Experimental validation with Rb and Yb demonstrates highly efficient atomic loading within the same compact design. This advancement represents a substantial improvement for high-flux cold atom applications, providing reliable performance for high-precision metrology, quantum computation and simulation.
We present a method of constructing an automatically reconfigurable, modular, electronic Zeeman slower, which is remotely controlled. This setup is used to investigate the ability of different magnetic field profiles to slow thermal atoms to the capture velocity of a magneto-optical-trap. We show that a simple numerical optimization process yields better results than the commonly used approach for deciding on the appropriate field and comes close to the optimum field, found by utilizing a fast feedback loop which uses a genetic algorithm. Our new numerical method is easily adaptable to a variety of existing slower designs and may be beneficial where feedback is unavailable.
We present a formalism to calculate phase-space acceptance in a Zeeman decelerator. Using parameters closely mimicking previous Zeeman deceleration experiments, this approach reveals a velocity dependence of the phase stability which we ascribe to the finite rise and fall times of the current pulses that generate the magnetic fields inside the deceleration coils. It is shown that changing the current switch-off times (characterized by the reduced position of the synchronous particle ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{0}$) as the sequence progresses, so as to maintain a constant mean acceleration per pulse, can lead to a constant phase stability and hence a beam with well-defined characteristics. We also find that the time overlap between fields of adjacent coils has an influence on the phase-space acceptance. Previous theoretical and experimental results [A. W. Wiederkehr et al., Phys. Rev. A 82, 043428 (2010); J. Chem. Phys. 135, 214202 (2011).] suggested unfilled regions in phase space that influence particle transmission through the decelerator. Our model provides a means to directly identify the origin of these effects due to coupling between longitudinal and transverse dynamics. Since optimum phase stability is restricted to a rather small parameter range in terms of the reduced position of the synchronous particle ${\ensuremath{\kappa}}_{0}$, only a limited range of final velocities can be attained using a given number of coils. We evaluate phase stability for different Zeeman deceleration sequences, and by comparison with numerical three-dimensional particle-trajectory simulations, we demonstrate that our model provides a valuable tool to find optimum parameter sets for improved Zeeman deceleration schemes. An acceleration-deceleration scheme is shown to be a useful approach to generating beams with well-defined properties for variable-energy collision experiments. More generally, the model provides significant physical insights that are applicable to other types of particle decelerators with finite rise and fall time fields.