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Acta Physica Sinica

UV light-induced atom desorption for magnetic trap in single vacuum chamber

Zhang Peng-Fei, Xu Xin-Ping, Haichao Zhang, Zhou Shan-Yu, Yuzhu Wang, 中国科学院上海光学精密机械研究所量子光学重点实验室，上海 201800

Published Jan 1, 2007• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

UV (390nm) light was used to modulate the rubidium partial pressure by inducing desorption of Rb atoms from the inner walls of the vacuum cell. A few mW/cm2 of UV light was enough to increase the rubidium partial pressure by a factor of 30 in about 1 s. After the source was turned off, the pressure quickly decayed back to its previous value with a time constant as short as 120 ms, allowing for long tapping lifetimes after the MOT holding phase. The number-lifetime product of the magnetic trap was shown as a function of the duration of the MOT holding phase, the maximum value was achieved after a MOT holding time of 1.25 s.

DOI
10.7498/aps.56.3205

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UV (390nm) light was used to modulate the rubidium partial pressure by inducing desorption of Rb atoms from the inner walls of the vacuum cell. A few mW/cm2 of UV light was enough to increase the rubidium partial pressure by a factor of 30 in about 1 s. After the source was turned off, the pressure quickly decayed back to its previous value with a time constant as short as 120 ms, allowing for long tapping lifetimes after the MOT holding phase. The number-lifetime product of the magnetic trap was shown as a function of the duration of the MOT holding phase, the maximum value was achieved after a MOT holding time of 1.25 s.
We show that light-induced atom desorption (LIAD) can be used as a flexible atomic source for large 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb and 40K^{40}\mathrm{K}40K magneto-optical traps. The use of LIAD at short wavelengths allows for fast switching of the desired vapor pressure and permits experiments with long trapping and coherence times. The wavelength dependence of the LIAD effect for both species was explored in a range from 630to253nm630\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{to}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}253\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{nm}630to253nm in an uncoated quartz cell and a stainless steel chamber. Only a few mW∕cm2\mathrm{mW}∕{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}mW∕cm2 of near-UV light produce partial pressures that are high enough to saturate a magneto-optical trap at $3.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$ 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms or $7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ 40K^{40}\mathrm{K}40K atoms. Loading rates as high as $1.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$ 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms/s and $8\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ 40K^{40}\mathrm{K}40K atoms/s were achieved without the use of a secondary atom source. After the desorption light is turned off, the pressure quickly decays back to equilibrium with a time constant as short as $200\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{s}$, allowing for long trapping lifetimes after the MOT loading phase.
Low-intensity white light was used to increase the loading rate of 87Rb{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms into a vapor-cell magneto-optic trap by inducing nonthermal desorption of Rb atoms from the stainless-steel walls of the vapor cell. An increased Rb partial pressure reached a new equilibrium value in fewer than 10 s after switching on the broadband light source. After the source was turned off, the partial pressure returned to its previous value in 1/e1/e1/e times as short as 10 s.
With the help of light-emitting diodes at the center wavelength of 470 nm, we demonstrate that light-induced atom desorption (LIAD) can be used for flexibly controlling the loading of magneto-optical traps (MOT) of cesium atoms. Under an ultralow background pressure in a quartz cell without any wall coating, we show that low intensity blue light can be used to control the loading rates (from 200 to 4000 atoms/s) and the number of cesium atoms (on the order of 104{10}^{4}104 in our experiment) in a MOT without the use of dispensers or any secondary atom source. A theoretical model based on an atom loading rate equation is built which can simulate the magneto-optical trap loading process with LIAD. The theoretical results are in agreement with experimental data. Some important parameters of the vacuum system are determined accordingly. The decay time of the vacuum pressure is about 70 ms, which is much shorter than the usual vacuum system for experiments on atomic ensembles. It is very difficult to measure such short times by the traditional fluorescence detection of cold atoms due to the slow loading process. The change of desorption rate (on the order of 1013 atoms/s{10}^{13}\text{ }\text{atoms}/\text{s}1013 atoms/s) for the different desorption intensities is also determined based on the background pressure caused by noncesium atoms in the cell. According to the experimental data and theoretical calculations, we obtain a partial pressure of about $1.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\text{ }\text{Torr}$ for the untrapped cesium atoms and about $6.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\text{ }\text{Torr}$ for the noncesium atoms at the moment the desorption light is turned off. The system is almost an ideal vacuum system for transferring atoms into another region for further experiments.
Abstract Here, we report our studies on the continuous loading of a U-magneto-optical trap (U-MOT) on an atom-chip with a rubidium-(Rb)-vapor-generated background using a dispenser source in an ultra high vacuum environment. Using the U-MOT loading curves, the partial pressure due to the Rb vapor and the pressure due to the background gas have been estimated near the MOT cloud position. The estimated pressure due to the Rb vapor increased from ∼ Torr to Torr as the Rb-dispenser current was increased from 2.8 to 3.4 A. The increase in dispenser current also resulted in a decrease in loading time as well as the lifetime of the MOT cloud. This study will be useful for magnetic trapping experiments where accurate information of the pressure in a chamber is important for the lifetime of the magnetic trap.
The dynamics of magneto-optical trap loading by light-induced atom desorption (LIAD) are investigated theoretically and experimentally. The loading of the MOT has been described by a theoretical model. We have paid close attention to the background gases which are essentially important for the ultimate vacuum pressure. The experiment is done based on a glass cell and all the results are well in agreement with the theory. The decay process of the background vacuum pressure caused by the untrapped cesium atoms after shutting off the desorption light is explained quantitatively. The LIAD effect is proved to be an effective tool to control the loading of the MOT and the neutral single atoms in experiment.
We report on the production of a rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate in a simplified vacuum apparatus. Magneto-optical traps with large numbers and ultra-high vacuum for moderately long conservative trap lifetimes of 16 seconds are sequentially obtained with light induced rapid atomic vapor pressure modulation. Subsequent evaporative cooling is carried out in two stages in a hybrid magnetic quadrupole plus optical dipole trap. High evaporation efficiencies are observed in both stages and 87^{87}87Rb BECs with more than 105^55 atoms can be reliably produced with total evaporation time of only 9.5 seconds.