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Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference

Laser cooling and trapping of rubidium

Christopher D. Wallace, Timothy T. Grove, T. Dinneen, V. Sánchez-Villicaña, P. L. Gould

Published May 12, 1991• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We have laser cooled an atomic beam of rubidium with diode lasers and have used these slow atoms to load a magneto-optical trap. The cooling is performed with the frequency-chirp method,1,2 in which the laser's frequency is ramped linearly (by the injection currant) to maintain resonance with the decelerating atoms. Two synchronously chirped lasers are required to prevent optical hyperfine pumping of the ground state. The chirp typically covers 500 MHz in 10 ms. At the end of each ramp, the resulting velocity distribution is measured with a pulsed probe laser. By varying the end point of the chirp, we are able to obtain slow atoms with average velocities ranging from 200 to −50 m/s. The widths of the velocity distributions are measured to be approximately 40 m/s. This relatively large width results from the inherent linewidth (~30 MHz) of the free-running diode lasers used for both cooling and probing.

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Towards microwave modulation in a wavelength-tuned magneto-optical trap

Aaron Allen, Stephen R. Segal, Evan A. Salim +2 more

Aaron Allen  ξ Physics REU 2009 JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA  Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 ξ Department of Mathematical Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 In this project, I present a new method for trapping Rubidium-87 atoms. The method proposed is microwave modulation of an external cavity diode laser. The modulation is designed so as to produce frequency sidebands for hyperfine pumping in addition to the main cooling frequency. It is designed for use in magneto-optical trapping. GENERAL MOTIVATION Doppler cooling of atoms is a central process in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. Doppler cooling is central to laser trapping, the formation of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC’s), the formation of Fermionic Condensates, advances in quantum computing, and proposed schemes in molecular trapping. Doppler cooling allows atoms to be slowed down many orders of magnitude below their room temperature velocity, which allows these atoms to be more easily controlled and studied. Doppler cooling can best be understood by its relationship to the thermodynamics of atoms. A collection of atoms at room temperature has an average velocity, v , that follows from its kinetic energy and the Maxwell-Boltzman distribution [1];

Bulletin of the American Physical Society•Nov 13, 2009•0 citations
We have laser cooled an atomic beam of rubidium with diode lasers and have used these slow atoms to load a magneto-optical trap. The cooling is performed with the frequency-chirp method,1,2 in which the laser's frequency is ramped linearly (by the injection currant) to maintain resonance with the decelerating atoms. Two synchronously chirped lasers are required to prevent optical hyperfine pumping of the ground state. The chirp typically covers 500 MHz in 10 ms. At the end of each ramp, the resulting velocity distribution is measured with a pulsed probe laser. By varying the end point of the chirp, we are able to obtain slow atoms with average velocities ranging from 200 to −50 m/s. The widths of the velocity distributions are measured to be approximately 40 m/s. This relatively large width results from the inherent linewidth (~30 MHz) of the free-running diode lasers used for both cooling and probing.
We have cooled and stopped a beam of cesium atoms using frequency chirped diode lasers. In this technique, a moving atom absorbs and reemits many photons from a counter propagating laser that is frequency swept to keep it in resonance with an atomic transition. The resulting momentum transfer slows the atom. The basic approach is identical to that developed by Hall and co-workers, however, the use of diode lasers allows us to obtain the necessary frequency modulation simply by sweeping the laser injection current. We use two diode lasers tuned to each of the 6s hyperfine ground state levels to drive the 6s—6p3/2 transitions. Each laser is simultaneously swept over the Doppler profile of the 100°C thermal cesium beam to bring a substantial number to a stop. Using additional fast frequency modulation, the same lasers are used to probe the resulting velocity distribution. This technique allows us to bring ~106 atoms/cm3 to a temperature of 1 K. This method is an extremely simple and inexpensive way to produce cold atoms.
We discuss the implementation and characterization of the source of a slow, intense, and collimated beam of rubidium atoms. The cold atomic beam is produced by two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping in directions transverse to the atomic beam axis and unbalanced Doppler cooling in the axial direction. The vacuum design allows use of relatively low laser power and a considerably simplified assembly. The atomic beam has a high flux of about $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{10}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{atoms}∕\mathrm{s}$ at a total cooling laser power of 55mW55\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mW}55mW. It has a narrow longitudinal velocity distribution with mean velocity 15m∕s15\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}∕\mathrm{s}15m∕s with full width at half maximum 3.5m∕s3.5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}∕\mathrm{s}3.5m∕s and has a low divergence of 26mrad26\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mrad}26mrad. The high flux enables ultrafast loading of about 1010{10}^{10}1010 atoms into a three-dimensional (3D) magneto-optical trap within 500 ms. The variation of the atomic beam flux was studied as a function of the rubidium vapor pressure, cooling laser power, transverse cooling laser beam length, detuning of the cooling laser, and relative intensities of the cooling beams along the atomic beam axis. We also discuss a detailed comparison of our measurements of the cold atomic beam with a 3D numerical simulation.
Aaron Allen  ξ Physics REU 2009 JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, and Department of Physics, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA  Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 ξ Department of Mathematical Sciences, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 In this project, I present a new method for trapping Rubidium-87 atoms. The method proposed is microwave modulation of an external cavity diode laser. The modulation is designed so as to produce frequency sidebands for hyperfine pumping in addition to the main cooling frequency. It is designed for use in magneto-optical trapping. GENERAL MOTIVATION Doppler cooling of atoms is a central process in the field of atomic, molecular, and optical (AMO) physics. Doppler cooling is central to laser trapping, the formation of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC’s), the formation of Fermionic Condensates, advances in quantum computing, and proposed schemes in molecular trapping. Doppler cooling allows atoms to be slowed down many orders of magnitude below their room temperature velocity, which allows these atoms to be more easily controlled and studied. Doppler cooling can best be understood by its relationship to the thermodynamics of atoms. A collection of atoms at room temperature has an average velocity, v , that follows from its kinetic energy and the Maxwell-Boltzman distribution [1];