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arXiv:2411.08807 · Review of Scientific Instruments

Loading of the narrow line Tm MOT from a pulsed cold atomic beam

M. O. Yaushev, D. Mishin, Dmitry O. Tregubov, N. Kolachevsky, Artem A. Golovizin

Published Mar 1, 2025• 3 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on building a pulsed source of cold Tm atoms and loading of the narrow-line magneto-optical trap (MOT) from the cold atomic beam. We achieve the loading rate of the first-stage MOT in the primary chamber up to 108 atoms/s and obtain a cold atomic beam with the mean longitudinal velocity ∼10 m/s and an angular spread of 18 mrad in a pulsed mode. In this regime, we can form a cold atomic beam with up to 5 × 106 atoms at a 5 Hz repetition rate. We also introduce a novel method to enhance the capture velocity of the narrow-line MOT by incorporating an additional axial cooling beam and achieve loading efficiency η = 10% of the second-stage MOT in the science chamber. Our approach could be extended to other atomic species with similar properties, such as Sr, Yb, Dy, and Er, serving as a convenient alternative for the traditional 2D-MOT schemes. Providing rapid loading of the MOT in the science chamber, it would reduce preparation time of the atomic ensemble leading to a shorter dead time in spectroscopy experiments and a higher repetition rate.

DOI
10.1063/5.0252998

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We report on building a pulsed source of cold Tm atoms and loading of the narrow-line magneto-optical trap (MOT) from the cold atomic beam. We achieve the loading rate of the first-stage MOT in the primary chamber up to 108 atoms/s and obtain a cold atomic beam with the mean longitudinal velocity ∼10 m/s and an angular spread of 18 mrad in a pulsed mode. In this regime, we can form a cold atomic beam with up to 5 × 106 atoms at a 5 Hz repetition rate. We also introduce a novel method to enhance the capture velocity of the narrow-line MOT by incorporating an additional axial cooling beam and achieve loading efficiency η = 10% of the second-stage MOT in the science chamber. Our approach could be extended to other atomic species with similar properties, such as Sr, Yb, Dy, and Er, serving as a convenient alternative for the traditional 2D-MOT schemes. Providing rapid loading of the MOT in the science chamber, it would reduce preparation time of the atomic ensemble leading to a shorter dead time in spectroscopy experiments and a higher repetition rate.
We demonstrate efficient loading of an Yb three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D MOT) on the 1S0 → 1P1 transition. The experiment employs a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) as an efficient cold atom source. Through optimization of the 2D MOT, auxiliary Zeeman slower, and push beam parameters that govern atomic capture, we achieve an atomic loading rate of 5 × 106 atoms/s in the 3D MOT, with approximately ∼107 trapped atoms. Our experimental results confirm the successful transfer of a substantial number of atoms from the 2D region to the science chamber via the push beam, providing an experimental foundation for subsequent implementation of narrow-line MOT and two-color MOT.
We describe an experimental setup for producing a large cold erbium (Er) sample in a narrow-line magneto-optical trap (MOT) in a simple and efficient way. We implement a pair of angled slowing beams with respect to the Zeeman slower axis, and further slow down atoms exiting from the Zeeman slower. The second-stage slowing beams enable the narrow-line MOT to trap atoms exiting from the Zeeman slower with higher velocity. This scheme is particularly useful when the Zeeman slower is at low optical power without the conventional transverse cooling between an oven and a Zeeman slower, in which case we significantly improve the loading efficiency into the MOT and are able to trap more than 108{10}^{8}108 atoms in the narrow-line MOT of 166Er^{166}\mathrm{Er}166Er. This work highlights our implementation, which greatly simplifies laser cooling and trapping of Er atoms and also should benefit other similar elements.
Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) based on the 626-nm, 136-kHz-wide intercombination line of Dy, which has an attractively low Doppler temperature of $3.3\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$, have been implemented in a growing number of experiments over the last several years. A challenge in loading these MOTs comes from their low capture velocities. Slowed atomic beams can spread out significantly during free flight from the Zeeman slower to the MOT position, reducing the fraction of the beam captured by the MOT. Here we apply a scheme for enhancing the loading rate of the MOT wherein atoms are Zeeman slowed to a final velocity larger than the MOT's capture velocity and then undergo a final stage of slowing by a pair of near-detuned beams addressing the 421-nm transition directly in front of the MOT. By reducing the free-flight time of the Zeeman-slowed atomic beam, we greatly enhance the slowed flux delivered to the MOT, leading to more than an order-of-magnitude enhancement in the final MOT population.
A beam source is proposed for the production of an intense cold cesium atomic beam that can be used in cesium beam atomic clocks. The source is based on a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D-MOT), but introduces hollow cooling and pushing lights in the axial direction to create a 2D+-MOT, which separates the cooling and pushing functions while the low-power pushing light pushes atoms out to form a cold atomic beam. This cold cesium atomic beam source reduces the light shift due to leakage light and retains longitudinal cooling to increase the flux of the cold atomic beam compared with that of the conventional 2D+-MOT scheme. The specifics of the design are investigated, the atomic velocity and beam flux are calculated, and the results are experimentally verified. The results demonstrate that when the power of the pushing light is 180 µW and when its frequency resonates with the 4 → 5′ transition of the Cs D2 line, the most probable longitudinal velocity of the outgoing cold atomic beam, the width of velocity distribution, and the atomic beam flux are 19.38 m/s, 8.1 m/s, and 1.7 × 1010 atoms/s, respectively.
A cold atom source is important for quantum metrology and precision measurement. To reduce the quantum projection noise limit in optical lattice clock, one can increase the number of cold atoms and reduce the dead time by enhancing the loading rate. In this work, we realize an enhanced cold mercury atom source based on a two-dimensional (2D) magneto-optical trap (MOT). The vacuum system is composed of two titanium chambers connected with a differential pumping tube. Two stable cooling laser systems are adopted for the 2D-MOT and the three-dimensional (3D)-MOT, respectively. Using an optimized 2D-MOT and push beam, about 1.3×106 atoms, which are almost an order of magnitude higher than using a pure 3D-MOT, are loaded into the 3D-MOT for 202Hg atoms. This enhanced cold mercury atom source is helpful in increasing the frequency stability of a neutral mercury lattice clock.
We produced a slow atomic beam of rubidium with a low-velocity intense source (LVIS) and loaded a magneto-optical trap (MOT) in a connected chamber with the beam. The hole for the atomic beam allowed us to keep the MOT chamber at a much lower pressure than that of the LVIS. The LVIS produced an atomic beam with a continuous flux of (4.3±0.4)×109/s and an average velocity of only 11±3 m/s. The MOT captured the atoms with 67±15% efficiency, which was limited by the atomic-beam divergence. The MOT held 6×109 atoms with a typical trap-confinement time of 8 s.