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Physical Review A

Experimental and theoretical study of the vapor-cell Zeeman optical trap

K. Lindquist, Michelle S. Stephens, Carl Wieman

Published Oct 1, 1992• 182 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present an experimental study of the number and density of trapped atoms in a vapor-cell Zeeman optical trap. We have investigated how the number (and therefore the capture rate) and density change with the trapping laser's beam diameter, intensity, and detuning and with the magnetic-field gradient of the trap. We have developed a quasi-one-dimensional numerical model that accurately predicts the number of trapped atoms for all conditions. We also have investigated chirping the laser frequency and trapping with broadband light, neither of which increase the number of trapped atoms.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.46.4082

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We present an experimental study of the number and density of trapped atoms in a vapor-cell Zeeman optical trap. We have investigated how the number (and therefore the capture rate) and density change with the trapping laser's beam diameter, intensity, and detuning and with the magnetic-field gradient of the trap. We have developed a quasi-one-dimensional numerical model that accurately predicts the number of trapped atoms for all conditions. We also have investigated chirping the laser frequency and trapping with broadband light, neither of which increase the number of trapped atoms.
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In this work, we have explored ab initio the capture process in a magneto-optical trap by theory, simulation and experiment. We measured the capture velocity vc of a cesium vapor cell magneto-optical trap (VCMOT) from its capture rate R and developed an exact model for the capture rate of a VCMOT in terms of its capture velocity, background density and trap laser beam diameter. We measured the capture velocity of a cesium VCMOT for various trap laser intensities and magnetic field gradients. We observed that the capture velocity is a damping force as well as a restoring force phenomenon. We supported our findings by performing simulations for single atom trajectories in a 1D cesium MOT. Finally, we concluded that two MOTs can have the same capture velocities but very different capture rates, thereby revealing that these are two fundamentally different characteristics of the MOT.