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Physical Review A

Light-induced atom desorption for cesium loading of a magneto-optical trap: Analysis and experimental investigations

Pengfei Zhang, Gang Li, Yuchi Zhang, Yanqiang Guo, Junmin Wang, Tiancai Zhang

Published Nov 24, 2009• 29 citations
Publisher

Abstract

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 ${10}^{4}$ 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 ${10}^{13}\text{ }\text{atoms}/\text{s}$) 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.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.80.053420

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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×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−10 Torr1.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\text{ }\text{Torr}1.4\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−10 Torr for the untrapped cesium atoms and about 6.4\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−10 Torr6.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\text{ }\text{Torr}6.4\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi10\ensuremath−10 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.
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 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.
We demonstrate loading of a Li magneto-optical trap using light-induced atomic desorption. The magneto-optical trap confines up to approximately $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ 7Li^{7}\mathrm{Li}7Li atoms with loading rates up to approximately $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{3}$ atoms per second. We study the Li desorption rate as a function of the desorption wavelength and power. The extracted wavelength threshold for desorption of Li from fused silica is approximately 470 nm. In addition to desorption of lithium, we observe light-induced desorption of background gas molecules. The vacuum pressure increase due to the desorbed background molecules is $\ensuremath{\lesssim}50\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}%$, and the vacuum pressure decreases back to its base value with characteristic timescales on the order of seconds when we extinguish the desorption light. By examining both the loading and decay curves of the magneto-optical trap, we are able to disentangle the trap decay rates due to background gases and desorbed lithium. Our results show that light-induced atomic desorption can be a viable Li vapor source for compact devices and sensors.
An investigation of the influence of light-induced atomic desorption (LIAD) on the transmission spectra from point of view of LIAD application for miniaturization of magneto-optical sensors and anti-relaxation coatings diagnostics is reported. With reduction of the dimensions of the cells, the amplitude of the signals decreases and it can be compensated by increasing the atomic density with temperature using special high temperature anti-relaxation coatings, or by LIAD. LIAD is a non-thermal process in which atoms adsorbed at a surface are released under illumination. It is investigated in various papers and has different applications - vapor density stabilization, MOT loading, surface nanostructuring etc. In this work the dependence of the shape of the absorption spectra on the laser power and blue light power is measured and analysis of the influence of different factors is done. All measurements are performed on the Rb D2 line in 3 different vacuum cells (uncoated, paraffin coated and SC-77 coated) with a 460 nm light emitting diode illumination. The good knowledge of the factors influencing the alkali atom spectra will be useful not only for the development of new alloptical sensors, but for study atom-dielectric surface interactions and development of new all-optical methods for surface and coating diagnostics.
We report studies of photon-stimulated desorption, also known as light-induced atomic desorption, of sodium atoms from a vacuum-cell glass surface used for loading a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Fluorescence detection was used to record the trapped atom number and the desorption rate. We observed a steep wavelength dependence of the desorption process above 2.6eV2.6 \mathrm{eV}2.6eV photon energy, a result significant for estimations of sodium vapor density in the lunar atmosphere. Our data fit well to a simple model for the loading of the MOT dependent only on the sodium desorption rate and residual gas density. Up to $3.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ Na atoms were confined under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions, creating promising loading conditions for a vapor-cell-based atomic Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium.
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.