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Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE

A preparation method of cold atomic beam with fine optical characteristics

Xinglun Tang, Zhaoying Zhou, Yanying Feng, Xing Yang, Rong Shu Zhu, Changxing Zhu

Published Jan 19, 2006• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A preparation method of cold atomic beam with fine optical characteristics is presented and discussed in this paper. The method is described as followings: cold atoms in three-dimension magneto-optical trap (3MOT) are pushed out because of the imbalanceable resonance-radiation pressure and form a cold atomic beam, whose propagation is limited in a magnetic guide. And then the atomic beam is further transversely compressed by use of two-dimension magneto-optical trap (2MOT). Finally, a state preparation laser processes the atomic beam. Consequently, the continuous cold atomic beam with lower longitudinal velocity, higher flux, much less transverse velocity and homogenous state is obtained. The simulation results show that the preparation method is feasible, which can be used in the establishment of the high-property atom interferometer.

DOI
10.1117/12.667342

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A preparation method of cold atomic beam with fine optical characteristics is presented and discussed in this paper. The method is described as followings: cold atoms in three-dimension magneto-optical trap (3MOT) are pushed out because of the imbalanceable resonance-radiation pressure and form a cold atomic beam, whose propagation is limited in a magnetic guide. And then the atomic beam is further transversely compressed by use of two-dimension magneto-optical trap (2MOT). Finally, a state preparation laser processes the atomic beam. Consequently, the continuous cold atomic beam with lower longitudinal velocity, higher flux, much less transverse velocity and homogenous state is obtained. The simulation results show that the preparation method is feasible, which can be used in the establishment of the high-property atom interferometer.
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.
We report on the realization of a transversely loaded two-dimensional magneto-optical trap serving as a source for cold strontium atoms. We analyze the dependence of the source's properties on various parameters, in particular the intensity of a pushing beam accelerating the atoms out of the source. An atomic flux exceeding 109atoms/s{10}^{9}\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{atoms}/\mathrm{s}109atoms/s at a rather moderate oven temperature of $500{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{\ensuremath{\circ}}\mathrm{C}$ is achieved. The longitudinal velocity of the atomic beam can be tuned over several tens of m/s by adjusting the power of the pushing laser beam. The beam divergence is around 60 mrad, determined by the transverse velocity distribution of the cold atoms. The slow atom source is used to load a three-dimensional magneto-optical trap realizing loading rates up to 109atoms/s{10}^{9}\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}\mathrm{atoms}/\mathrm{s}109atoms/s without indication of saturation of the loading rate for increasing oven temperature. The compact setup avoids undesired effects found in alternative sources like, e.g., Zeeman slowers, such as vacuum contamination and black-body radiation due to the hot strontium oven.
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.
We present a cold atomic beam source based on a two-dimensional (2D)+ magneto-optical trap (MOT), capable of generating a continuous cold beam of 87Rb atoms with a flux up to 4.3*10^9 atoms/s, a mean velocity of 10.96(2.20) m/s, and a transverse temperature of 16.90(1.56) uK. Investigating the influence of high cooling laser intensity, we observe a significant population loss of atoms to hyperfine-level dark states. To account for this, we employ a multiple hyperfine level model to calculate the cooling efficiency associated with the population in dark states, subsequently modifying the scattering force. Simulations of beam flux at different cooling and repumping laser intensities using the modified scattering force are in agreement with experimental results. Optimizing repumping and cooling intensities enhances the flux by 50%. The influence of phase modulation on both the pushing and cooling lasers is experimentally studied, revealing that the mean velocity of cold atoms can be tuned from 9.5 m/s to 14.6 m/s with a phase-modulated pushing laser. The versatility of this continuous beam source, featuring high flux, controlled velocity, and narrow transverse temperature, renders it valuable for applications in atom interferometers and clocks, ultimately enhancing bandwidth, sensitivity, and signal contrast in these devices.
A continuous beam of cold atoms is considered as an alternative to improve the performance of caesium frequency standards. A two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) is outlined. The assembling of three counter-propagating circularly polarised laser beams and of two magnetic field gradients along the horizontal axes leads to a transverse cooling and trapping, whereas in the vertical z-direction the atoms are only cooled and not trapped because of the zero magnetic field in this direction. In order to predict the characteristics of the beam of cold atoms, a simulation of the atomic trajectories was carried out by using a two-dimensional model of Doppler cooling and magneto-optical trapping. The velocity distribution of the atoms, which, due to the trapping and cooling process, enter the zone, where they are launched, is calculated.
We demonstrate an experimental setup for the production of a beam source of cold 87Rb atoms. The atoms are extracted from a trapped cold atomic cloud in an unbalanced three-dimensional magneto—optical trap. Via a radiation pressure difference generated by a specially designed leak tunnel along one trapping laser beam, the atoms are pushed out continuously with low velocities and a high flux. The most-probable velocity in the beam is varied from 9 m/s to 19 m/s by varying the detuning of the trapping laser beams in the magneto—optical trap and the flux can be tuned up to 4×109 s−1 by increasing the intensity of the trapping beams. We also present a simple model for describing the dependence of the beam performance on the magneto—optical trap trapping laser intensity and the detuning.