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Bulletin of the American Physical Society

A low velocity intense source of atoms

Zheng‐Tian Lu, Kristan L. Corwin, Michael J. Renn, M.H. Anderson, Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman

Published May 1, 1996• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

The authors have demonstrated a new method of generating a slow, collimated atomic beam. In this experiment, 87Rb atoms were first collected into a standard MOT with six laser beams. One of the beams was blocked in the center by an opaque spot, causing an imbalance of light force in a column along the axis of this laser beam. Consequently, the atoms in the trap were pushed out along the axis and form a slow, collimated beam. This configuration uses atoms efficiently, because those atoms which leave the shadow of the opaque spot while inside the capture volume of the trap are recirculated. This scheme is a simple, cost-effective way of generating cold atomic beams for many experiments, fiber guiding of atoms, atomic interferometry, and transporting atoms in a double-MOT system.

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Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics•Aug 29, 2005•0 citations
The authors have demonstrated a new method of generating a slow, collimated atomic beam. In this experiment, 87Rb atoms were first collected into a standard MOT with six laser beams. One of the beams was blocked in the center by an opaque spot, causing an imbalance of light force in a column along the axis of this laser beam. Consequently, the atoms in the trap were pushed out along the axis and form a slow, collimated beam. This configuration uses atoms efficiently, because those atoms which leave the shadow of the opaque spot while inside the capture volume of the trap are recirculated. This scheme is a simple, cost-effective way of generating cold atomic beams for many experiments, fiber guiding of atoms, atomic interferometry, and transporting atoms in a double-MOT system.
We have produced and characterized an intense, slow, and highly collimated atomic beam extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT). The technique used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6 mm diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}/\mathrm{s}$ and a pulsed flux 10 times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70% of the atoms trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam.
© 2008 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. We have produced and characterized an intensc, slow, and highly collimatcd atomic bcani extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT). Thc tcchniquc used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6 nini diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of 5 X 109/s and a pulsed flux 10 times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70% of the atonis trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam. [SO03 1 -9007(96)01434-21].
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.
We present the implementation and characterization of a slow, intense, and collimated rubidium atomic source for atom interferometry. The continuous87Rb cold atomic beam is produced by a new compact two-dimensional magneto-optical trap. And it is based on the 2D+MOT design but a much smaller size and a higher flux compared to our original LVIS system. The on-line detecting system developed over a combination of time-of-flight and fluorescence methods is used to optimize the beam parameters. The dependence of the beam flux on detuning and power are investigated in detail respectively, for cooling and pushing laser. The re-pumping laser power influence is also considered. With aError! Reference source not found.10 G/cm magnetic gradient, 3ΓError! Reference source not found. red detuning from resonance for cooling laser and 5ΓError! Reference source not found. red detuning for pushing laser, the obtained cold atomic beam has a high flux of 4.7×109atoms/s Error! Reference source not found. Error! Reference source not found. It has a narrow longitudinal velocity distribution with mean velocity 10 m/s and full width at half maximum (FWHM)Error! Reference source not found.2 m/sError! Reference source not found. The two-photo stimulated Raman transitions both in Doppler-free and Doppler-sensitive modes are first proceeded, and stable Raman-Ramsey fringes are achieved with twon/2 Error! Reference source not found. Raman pulses.