Physical Review Letters

Cold Atom Trap with Zero Residual Magnetic Field: The ac Magneto-Optical Trap

Matthew Harvey, Andrew James Murray

Published Oct 22, 2008• 32 citations

Abstract

A novel atom trap is described using alternating current to generate the magnetic B field, together with high speed polarization switching of the damping laser field. This combination produces a trap as effective as a standard magneto-optical trap (MOT), with the advantage that the average B field is zero. No net current is hence induced in surrounding conductive elements, and the B field produced by the ac MOT is found to switch off >300 times faster than a conventional MOT. New experiments can hence be performed, including charged particle probing or detection of the cold target ensemble.

DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.101.173201

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