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

Atom optics with permanent magnetic components

Dieter Meschede, Immanuel Bloch, A. Goepfert, D. Haubrich, M. Kreis, Frank Lison, R. Schuetze, R. Wynands

Published May 1, 1997• 7 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have fabricated and investigated efficient magnetic lenses, waveguides, and mirrors from rare earth permanent materials. They are affordable and maintenance free. In contrast to corresponding light force components they do not need any supplies, they have large apertures, high reflectivity, and there is no spontaneous emission. The cylindrical shape of magnetic components is furthermore well suited to steer atomic beams.

DOI
10.1117/12.273757

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We have fabricated and investigated efficient magnetic lenses, waveguides, and mirrors from rare earth permanent materials. They are affordable and maintenance free. In contrast to corresponding light force components they do not need any supplies, they have large apertures, high reflectivity, and there is no spontaneous emission. The cylindrical shape of magnetic components is furthermore well suited to steer atomic beams.
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There is a need in atom optics and atom interferometry for high quality atomic mirrors and beamsplitters that will permit the manipulation and control of beams of slowly moving atoms. We have an established programme for developing and testing mirrors for atom optics based on the interaction between the magnetic dipole moment of an atom and the exponentially varying magnetic field above a periodic array of magnetic elements. Previously we have observed reflection of cold atoms from mirrors of a number of different designs, including a macroscopic array of permanent rare-earth magnets of alternating polarity, grooved ferromagnetic structures, arrays of current-carrying conductors and structures recorded onto magneto-optical films.
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In the field of atom optics, there has been much interests in developing components such as lenses, mirrors, beam splitters and waveguides to manipulate neutral atoms. Especially many clever methods to focus neutral atoms have been developed. The lenses have been constructed using the static electrical and magnetic fields, Fresnel zone plates, and radiation pressure forces. Before the laser cooling and trapping techniques were invented, the electrostatic fields could not be used for manipulating neutral atoms because of its weak interaction energy with atoms. After the cold atoms were available, it has been possible to manipulate atoms with weak electrostatic interaction energy. We developed an atom lens system using electrostatic fields.
The field of atom-optics offers considerable potential in fundamental and applied physics, both for imaging atoms and their deposition (to create nano-structures). Here we work in the paraxial approximation throughout and can therefore assume that the scalar modes represent (e. g., linearly polarized) electro-magnetic laser-field modes. For atomic lens design, based on the optical dipole force, it is necessary to coherently superpose suitable laser modes in order to create wide thin parabolic lenses with large numerical apertures. Only in this manner can the tiny diffraction limits promised by the extraordinary smallness of the de Broglie wavelengths of atomic beams be realized.
A large-aperture liquid-He coated spherical mirror and a room-temperature bent-gold crystal have been used to focus atom beams of H and He, respectively. They are described elsewhere in this symposium. Many of the new optical elements for atoms rely on the mechanical forces of light; mirrors are one example. When atoms approach the surface of glass that has intense blue-detuned light inside, they recoil from the evanescent wave that extends several wavelengths past the surface and into the vacuum. The atoms are never close enough to the surface to be affected by its atomic attraction or its small-scale irregularities. When a highly collimated beam of sodium atoms is directed at a standing wave of light near its resonance frequency, the angular scattering pattern of the atoms exhibits the characteristics of diffraction from a short sinusoidal grating. Diffraction orders up to ~20 have been observed at high light intensities. In contrast to phase gratings made with light, material absorption gratings are amplitude gratings.