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Optics Letters

Multistage two-dimensional magneto-optical trap as a compact cold atom beam source

Jaime Ramirez-Serrano, Nan Yu, James M. Kohel, James R. Kellogg, Lute Maleki

Published Mar 15, 2006• 19 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A compact cold atom beam source based on a multistage two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) has been demonstrated and characterized. The multiple-stage design greatly reduces the overall size of the source apparatus while providing a high flux of atoms. The cold atom beam was used to load a separate MOT in ultrahigh vacuum, and we obtained an actual trap loading rate of 1.5 x 109 atoms/s while using only 20 mW of total laser power for the source. The entire source apparatus, including optics, can fit into a 4 cm x 4 cm x 13 cm volume.

DOI
10.1364/ol.31.000682

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A compact cold atom beam source based on a multistage two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) has been demonstrated and characterized. The multiple-stage design greatly reduces the overall size of the source apparatus while providing a high flux of atoms. The cold atom beam was used to load a separate MOT in ultrahigh vacuum, and we obtained an actual trap loading rate of 1.5 x 109 atoms/s while using only 20 mW of total laser power for the source. The entire source apparatus, including optics, can fit into a 4 cm x 4 cm x 13 cm volume.
Integrating two chemically distinct atomic species into a miniaturized, high-flux cold-atom source is a key challenge for modern experiments with ultracold atomic mixtures and polar molecules. Here, we report a compact setup with in-series two-dimensional magneto-optical traps (2D MOTs) that provides high-flux cold lithium and rubidium atoms. Thanks to the efficient short-distance Zeeman slowing, the maximum 3D MOT loading rate of lithium atoms reaches a record value of 6.6 × 10 9 atoms/s at a moderate lithium-oven temperature of 372 degrees Celsius, which is 44 times higher than that without the Zeeman slowing light. The flux of rubidium is also as high as 2.3 × 10 9 atoms/s with the rubidium oven held at room temperature. Meanwhile, the entire vacuum-chamber system, including an ultra-high-vacuum science cell, is within a small volume of 65 × 55 × 70 cm 3 . Our work represents a substantial improvement over traditional bulky and complex dual-species cold-atom setups. It provides a good starting point for the fast production of a double-degenerate lithium-rubidium atomic mixture and large samples of ultracold lithium-rubidium ground-state molecules.
Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) are widely used for laser cooling of atoms. We have developed a high-flux compact cold-atom source based on a pyramid MOT with a unique adjustable aperture that is highly suitable for portable quantum technology devices, including space-based experiments. The adjustability enabled an investigation into the previously unexplored impact of aperture size on the atomic flux, and optimisation of the aperture size allowed us to demonstrate a higher flux than any reported cold-atom sources that use a pyramid, LVIS, 3D-MOT or grating MOT. We achieved 2.1(1) × 1010 atoms/s of 87Rb with a mean velocity of 32(1) m/s, FWHM of 27.6(9) m/s and divergence of 59(4) mrad. Halving the total optical power to 195 mW caused only a 20% reduction of the flux, and a 30% decrease in mean velocity. Methods to further decrease the velocity as required have been identified. The low power consumption and small size make this design suitable for a wide range of cold-atom technologies.
Integrating two chemically distinct atomic species into a miniaturized, high-flux cold-atom source is a key challenge for modern experiments with ultracold atomic mixtures and polar molecules.Here, we report a compact setup with in-series two-dimensional magneto-optical traps (2D MOTs) that provides high-flux cold lithium and rubidium atoms.Thanks to the efficient short-distance Zeeman slowing, the maximum 3D MOT loading rate of lithium atoms reaches a record value of 6.6 × 10 9 atoms/s at a moderate lithium-oven temperature of 372 degrees Celsius, which is 44 times higher than that without the Zeeman slowing light.The flux of rubidium is also as high as 2.3 × 10 9 atoms/s with the rubidium oven held at room temperature.Meanwhile, the entire vacuum-chamber system, including an ultra-high-vacuum science cell, is within a small volume of 65 × 55 × 70 cm 3 .Our work represents a substantial improvement over traditional bulky and complex dual-species cold-atom setups.It provides a good starting point for the fast production of a double-degenerate lithium-rubidium atomic mixture and large samples of ultracold lithium-rubidium ground-state molecules.
Abstract The atom source is a relevant component in many atomic molecular optics experiments. The compactness and efficiency of the source are fundamental issues, acquiring more importance as the complexity of the experiments increases. Characterizing new techniques to produce high atom flux is necessary to know the efficiency and peculiarities of each one. This allows choosing the most suitable source for a specific experiment. In this work, we show a direct comparison between a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D-MOT) and a Zeeman slower (ZS) as source of cold sodium atoms to load a standard three-dimensional magneto-optical trap. The optimum parameters for each case are obtained by observing the loading rate and the final number of atoms in the 3D-MOT. We conclude that the 2D-MOT provides a high flux of atoms comparable with that produced by the ZS, but with an enormous advantage with respect to the size of the apparatus.
We demonstrate a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) as a beam source for cold 6Li^{6}\text{L}\text{i}6Li atoms. The source is side loaded from an oven operated at temperatures in the range $600\ensuremath{\lesssim}T\ensuremath{\lesssim}700\text{ }\text{K}$. The performance is analyzed by loading the atoms into a three-dimensional MOT located 220 mm downstream from the source. The maximum recapture rate of $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{9}\text{ }{\text{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$ is obtained for $T\ensuremath{\approx}700\text{ }\text{K}$ and results in a total of up to 1010{10}^{10}1010 trapped atoms. The recaptured fraction is estimated to be $30\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}10%$ and limited by beam divergence. The most-probable velocity in the beam $({\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{z})$ is varied from 18 to 70 m/s by increasing the intensity of a push beam. The source is quite monochromatic with a full width at half maximum velocity spread of 11 m/s at ${\ensuremath{\alpha}}_{z}=36\text{ }\text{m}/\text{s}$, demonstrating that side loading completely eliminates beam contamination by hot vapor from the oven. We identify depletion of the low-velocity tail of the oven flux as the limiting loss mechanism. Our approach is suitable for other atomic species.