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Physical Review A

Efficient optical guiding of trapped cold atoms by a hollow laser beam

Xinye Xu, Kihwan Kim, Wonho Jhe, Namic Kwon

Published May 4, 2001• 71 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We present an experimental and theoretical study of efficient optical guiding of trapped cold atoms by a blue-detuned hollow laser beam. We have measured the atomic guiding efficiency with respect to the propagation direction of the hollow beam, which is in good agreement with numerical analysis. In particular, using a copropagating guide laser, we have obtained 20-fold enhancement of atom guiding with a guiding efficiency of 50%. Simulation shows that the efficiency can be increased to 80% with an improved hollow beam mode. The possibility of coherent atom guiding is also discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.63.063401

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Physical Review A•Jul 1, 1998•107 citations
We present an experimental and theoretical study of efficient optical guiding of trapped cold atoms by a blue-detuned hollow laser beam. We have measured the atomic guiding efficiency with respect to the propagation direction of the hollow beam, which is in good agreement with numerical analysis. In particular, using a copropagating guide laser, we have obtained 20-fold enhancement of atom guiding with a guiding efficiency of 50%. Simulation shows that the efficiency can be increased to 80% with an improved hollow beam mode. The possibility of coherent atom guiding is also discussed.
Optical guiding of ^Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) by a blue-detuned horizontal hollow laser beam is demonstrated experimentally. The guiding efficiency and the velocity distribution of the guided atoms are found to have strong dependence on the detuning of the guiding laser. In particular, the optimum guiding occurs when the blue detuning of the hollow laser beam is approximately equal to the hyperfine structure splitting of the ^85Rb ground states, in good agreement with the theoretical analysis based on a three-level model.
Optical guiding of 85 Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) by a blue-detuned horizontal hollow laser beam is demonstrated experimentally. The guiding efficiency and the velocity distribution of the guided atoms are found to have strong dependence on the detuning of the guiding laser. In particular, the optimum guiding occurs when the blue detuning of the hollow laser beam is approximately equal to the hyperfine structure splitting of the 85 Rb ground states, in good agreement with the theoretical analysis based on a three-level model.
Summary form only given. The optical guidance of cold atoms by the hollow laser beam (HLB) with blue detuning has been well understood experimentally and theoretically (Xinye Xu et al, 2000). Based on this clear understanding and the development of an efficient atomic guiding, we have performed the experiment of optically guided atomic fountain by using a blue-detuned cylindrical HLB. An HLB was generated from a micron-sized hollow optical fiber and collimated by the objective lens and propagates downwards to the center of a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We have demonstrated tenfold enhancement of the atom-funneling efficiency for the HLB-guided atomic fountain, which may lead to improved performance of atom optical experiments based on the atomic fountain such as the Rb atomic clock.
We present a general theory of atom guiding in a blue-detuned hollow laser beam. Using the dressed-atom approach, we obtain the mean dipole gradient force, the radiation pressure force, and the momentum diffusion coefficients for three-level Λ-type cold atoms. Using Monte Carlo simulation, we calculate the guiding efficiencies and the final velocity distributions of atoms for various conditions. We find that the guiding efficiency depends not only on the intensity and detuning of the guiding hollow beam but also on the atom-guiding direction with respect to the propagation direction of the hollow laser beam. Comparing our analyses with recent experimental results, we find that they are mutually consistent. The results that we present can also be applied to atom guiding by hollow optical fibers.
The theory of atom guiding in a far blue-detuned hollow laser beam (HLB) is developed for the dipole interaction scheme described by a three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ model. The complete kinetic description of atomic motion based on the Fokker-Planck equation for the atomic distribution function is presented. The dipole gradient force, radiation pressure force, and momentum diffusion tensor are then derived. It is found that even for a far-detuned laser beam, the optical potential for a three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ atom is not generally reduced to a sum of two independent potentials associated with the two two-level interactions in the $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ scheme. The theory developed here is also compared with the experimental guiding of cold 85Rb{}^{85}\mathrm{Rb}85Rb atoms in the HLB. The experimental results are found to be in good agreement with the Monte Carlo simulations based on the three-level $\ensuremath{\Lambda}$ model. We observe that the guiding efficiency depends strongly on the intensity and the detuning of the HLB and the initial temperature of atoms. In particular, the experimental results show that, at small detunings, the guiding efficiency is deteriorated strongly by the radiation pressure force. The Monte Carlo simulations also indicate that the efficiency of guiding versus detuning depends strongly on the direction of the HLB propagation with respect to that of atomic motion. Under optimal conditions, the guiding efficiency was found to be about 20%.
We propose and analyze theoretically a scheme for atomic guiding and cooling in a dark hollow laser beam generated from the collimated output beam of a LP01{\mathrm{LP}}_{01}LP01​ mode in a micrometer-sized hollow optical fiber. In the scheme, cold atoms from a magneto-optical trap are loaded into the blue-detuned dark hollow beam, move down in the dark hollow beam, and experience transverse Sisyphus cooling induced by the dark hollow beam and a weak repumping beam. In the longitudinal direction, the guided atoms experience heating from the gravity field and cooling from the upward-propagating dark hollow beam and repumping beam. We estimate the transverse two-dimensional equilibrium temperature, the final longitudinal mean velocity, and the total loss of the guided atoms. Our calculations show that a transverse equilibrium temperature of $\ensuremath{\sim}1.2\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K},$ a final longitudinal mean velocity of 0--4.41 m/s, and a guiding efficiency of 65--95 % may be obtained.