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Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference

Loading mechanism for atomic guides

Boon-Keng Kevin Teo, Georg A. Raithel

Published Nov 13, 2002• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Summary form only given. Small guides can produce very strong confining fields but the transfer of cold atoms from a magneto optical trap (MOT) into such guides present a problem. This is because MOTs require a fixed trapping volume of /spl sim/ 1 cm/sup 3/ and cannot be miniaturized in the same way as atom guides. We demonstrate the loading of atoms from a cycled MOT into a tapered magnetic atom guide that overlaps with the MOT. This integrated loading strategy involves the formation of a MOT directly inside the atom guide.

DOI
10.1109/qels.2001.961924

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Loading mechanism for atomic guides

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This thesis presents the first demonstration of a guide for cold atoms based on a miniature structure of four current-carrying wires. The four wires are embedded within a hollow silica fibre. Atoms are guided along the centre of a fifth hole on the axis of the fibre by the Stern-Gerlach force. A vapour cell Magneto Optical Trap (MOT), formed 1 cm above the mouth of the waveguide is the source of cold "8"5Rb atoms. After cooling the atoms to 25 #mu#K in optical molasses they fall under the influence of gravity through a magnetic funnel into the waveguide. After propagating for 2 cm, the atoms are reflected by the field of a small pinch coil wound around the base of the guide. The atoms then travel back up the fibre and out into the funnel, where they can be imaged either in fluorescence or by recapturing in the MOT. A video sequence of atoms falling into the guide and re-emerging after reflection from the pinch coil graphically illustrates the operation of the guide. The coupling efficiency and transverse temperature of the atoms is measured experimentally and in a Monte-Carlo simulation. We find an optimum coupling efficiency of 12% and we measure the spatial extent of the cloud within the fibre to be of order 100 #mu#m. We find good agreement between experimental data and results from the numerical simulation. We have also been able to observe different thresholds for the reflection of different positive m_F levels. In another experiment we are able to trap the atoms in an elongated Ioffe trap for up to two seconds, increasing the distance over which the atoms are guided. We are able to guide the atoms over distances of 40 cm with a loss rate indistinguishable from the free space loss rate. (author)

•Sep 1, 2000•0 citations
Summary form only given. Small guides can produce very strong confining fields but the transfer of cold atoms from a magneto optical trap (MOT) into such guides present a problem. This is because MOTs require a fixed trapping volume of /spl sim/ 1 cm/sup 3/ and cannot be miniaturized in the same way as atom guides. We demonstrate the loading of atoms from a cycled MOT into a tapered magnetic atom guide that overlaps with the MOT. This integrated loading strategy involves the formation of a MOT directly inside the atom guide.
We present a method of coupling laser-cooled atoms from a vapor-cell magneto-optic trap (MOT) into a magnetic atom guide. The axis of the four-wire quadrupole guide passes directly through the center of the MOT. The guide is tilted at a small angle with respect to the horizontal plane to facilitate the propagation of the atoms released from the MOT into the guide. We demonstrate the loading of 10587Rb{10}^{5}{ }^{87}\mathrm{Rb}10587Rb atoms into the guide and measure their propagation up to distances of 17 cm (limited by the guide length). The guide incorporates a tapered section in which the guide diameter reduces by a factor of about 3.
We report the continuous or pulsed loading of a slow and cold atomic beam into a magnetic guide. In order to optimize the transfer into the guide, we have studied two coupling schemes. The first one is based on an auxiliary two-dimensional MOT that confines the atoms transversally before they enter the guide. However, for low atomic velocities, the atoms are strongly heated in the longitudinal direction. This limitation does not occur in the second coupling scheme which relies on magnetic confinement in the transfer zone. For this purpose, we have constructed a miniature magnetic guide located between the atomic source and the long magnetic guide. The latter scheme allows to inject atoms with velocities down to 70 cm/s into the guide.
We have constructed a tapered magnetic atom guide that is integrated with a magneto-optical trap. We have observed atom guiding over distances of up to 20 cm. This integrated strategy is useful for loading atoms into wire guides. We have shown that tapered sections in atom guides. i.e. sections with a variable steepness of the transverse guiding potential, can reflect atoms propagating in the guide. The reflection arises from the adiabatic conservation of the action of the transverse motion; the latter can be used as a control parameter for the atom reflectivity. A method of producing a slow, dark atomic beam of atoms is demonstrated. Atoms that are extracted from a magneto-optical trap using a push beam are quickly pumped into a dark state, which does not interact with the push laser beam. This method is capable of producing atoms with a velocity of order 1 m/s. The slow atoms can be coupled into atom guides. In related research, we observe tunneling resonances of atoms in a 1D optical lattice through the measurement of the magnetization. These resonances manifest themselves as modulations in the magnetization curves. The resonances are shown to be related to the coherence properties of the atoms, and exist only under conditions where the coherence time exceeds the tunneling period of the atoms.
Summary form only given. We report optical guiding of cold atoms in a free-propagating far-detuned laser beam. The atoms are initially cooled and collected in a magneto-optical trap (MOT), which typically contains over 10/sup 8/ atoms in a cigar shaped cloud with an aspect ratio of 4. Approximately 20% of these atoms are loaded into a far-detuned optical dipole beam aligned vertically through the MOT. The number loaded is limited primarily by geometrical overlap. Both guided and unguided atoms are launched with a velocity of 1.25 m/s and a temperature of 20 /spl mu/K. The guided beam is focused through a 1 mm aperture, 6 cm above the MOT, which connects the vapour cell to a UHV chamber. Atoms can be launched within the guide without heating and guided into a UHV chamber with 100% efficiency. In continuous operation, the scheme allows extraction of atoms from a MOT without loss of phase space density.
This thesis presents the first demonstration of a guide for cold atoms based on a miniature structure of four current-carrying wires. The four wires are embedded within a hollow silica fibre. Atoms are guided along the centre of a fifth hole on the axis of the fibre by the Stern-Gerlach force. A vapour cell Magneto Optical Trap (MOT), formed 1 cm above the mouth of the waveguide is the source of cold "8"5Rb atoms. After cooling the atoms to 25 #mu#K in optical molasses they fall under the influence of gravity through a magnetic funnel into the waveguide. After propagating for 2 cm, the atoms are reflected by the field of a small pinch coil wound around the base of the guide. The atoms then travel back up the fibre and out into the funnel, where they can be imaged either in fluorescence or by recapturing in the MOT. A video sequence of atoms falling into the guide and re-emerging after reflection from the pinch coil graphically illustrates the operation of the guide. The coupling efficiency and transverse temperature of the atoms is measured experimentally and in a Monte-Carlo simulation. We find an optimum coupling efficiency of 12% and we measure the spatial extent of the cloud within the fibre to be of order 100 #mu#m. We find good agreement between experimental data and results from the numerical simulation. We have also been able to observe different thresholds for the reflection of different positive m_F levels. In another experiment we are able to trap the atoms in an elongated Ioffe trap for up to two seconds, increasing the distance over which the atoms are guided. We are able to guide the atoms over distances of 40 cm with a loss rate indistinguishable from the free space loss rate. (author)