Efficient magneto-optical trapping of a metastable helium gas
Franck Pereira dos Santos, F. Perales, Jérémie Léonard +6 more
This article presents a new experiment aiming at BEC of metastable helium atoms. It describes the design of a high flux discharge source of atoms and a robust laser system using a DBR diode coupled with a high power Yb doped fiber amplifier for manipulating the beam of metastable atoms. The atoms are trapped in a small quartz cell in an extreme high vacuum. The trapping design uses an additional laser (repumper) and allows the capture of a large number of metastable helium atoms (approximately 10 9 ) in a geometry favorable for loading a tight magnetostatic trap.
arXiv:physics/0103064•The European Physical Journal Applied Physics•Apr 1, 2001•13 citations