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Quantum Electronics

Magnetic trap for thulium atoms

Денис Дмитриевич Сукачев, А. В. Соколов, K A Chebakov, Alexey V. Akimov, N. Kolachevsky, Vadim N Sorokin

Published Aug 31, 2011• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

For the first time ultra-cold thulium atoms were trapped in a magnetic quadrupole trap with a small field gradient (20 Gs cm -1 ). The atoms were loaded from a cloud containing 4 × 10 5 atoms that were preliminarily cooled in a magneto-optical trap to the sub-Doppler temperature of 80 μK. As many as 4 × 10 4 atoms were trapped in the magnetic trap at the temperature of 40 μK. By the character of trap population decay the lifetime of atoms was determined (0.5 s) and an upper estimate was obtained for the rate constant of inelastic binary collisions for spin-polarised thulium atoms in the ground state (g in < 10 -11 cm 3 s -1 ).

DOI
10.1070/qe2011v041n08abeh014663

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For the first time ultra-cold thulium atoms were trapped in a magnetic quadrupole trap with a small field gradient (20 Gs cm -1 ). The atoms were loaded from a cloud containing 4 × 10 5 atoms that were preliminarily cooled in a magneto-optical trap to the sub-Doppler temperature of 80 μK. As many as 4 × 10 4 atoms were trapped in the magnetic trap at the temperature of 40 μK. By the character of trap population decay the lifetime of atoms was determined (0.5 s) and an upper estimate was obtained for the rate constant of inelastic binary collisions for spin-polarised thulium atoms in the ground state (g in < 10 -11 cm 3 s -1 ).
We demonstrated laser cooling and trapping of thulium atoms at sub-Doppler temperatures in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Up to 3 × 10 6 thulium atoms were trapped in the MOT at temperatures down to 25(5) μK which is approximately 10 times lower than the Doppler limit. The lifetime of atoms in the MOT varied between 0.3–1.5 s and was restricted mostly by optical leaks from the upper cooling level. The lower limit for the leaking rate was estimated to be 22(6) s −1 . Due to a big magnetic moment of Tm atoms, a part of them were trapped in a magnetic trap from the quadrupole field of the MOT. We observed about 3 × 10 4 purely magnetically trapped atoms at temperature of 25 μK with a lifetime in the trap of 0.5 s. Also we set up a “dark” MOT consisting of six crossed hollow beams which increased the number of trapped atoms by a factor of 5 leading to 1.5 × 10 7 atoms at the expense of higher temperature.
Thulium atoms are trapped in a magneto-optical trap using a strong transition at 410410410 nm with a small branching ratio. We trap up to $7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ atoms at a temperature of 0.8(2)0.8(2)0.8(2) mK after deceleration in a 404040-cm-long Zeeman slower. Optical leaks from the cooling cycle influence the lifetime of atoms in the magneto-optical trap which varies between 0.30.30.3 and 1.51.51.5 s in our experiments. The lower limit for the leaking rate from the upper cooling level is measured to be 22(6)22(6)22(6) ${\mathrm{s}}^{\ensuremath{-}1}$. The repumping laser transferring the atomic population out of the F=3F=3F=3 hyperfine ground-state sublevel gives a 3030%30 increase for the lifetime and the number of atoms in the trap.
Sub-Doppler laser cooling in a magneto-optical trap for thulium atoms at a wavelength of 410.6 nm has been experimentally studied. Without any dedicated molasses period of sub-Doppler cooling, the cloud of 3 × 106 atoms at a temperature of 25(5) μK was observed. The measured temperature is significantly lower than the Doppler limit of 240 μK for the cooling transition at 410.6 nm. The high efficiency of the sub-Doppler cooling process is due to a near-degeneracy of the Landé g-factors of the lower 4f 136s 2 (J = 7/2) and the upper 4f 125d 3/26s 2 (J = 9/2) cooling levels.
Abstract Dysprosium (Dy) is the most magnetic element on the periodic table, making it excellent for studying dipolar atom-atom interactions. We report on a simple Dy magneto-optical trap (MOT) that captures atoms directly from the thermal beam using a single diode-laser system to generate the light. Additionally, the atoms are magnetically confined by the quadrupole magnetic field that also facilitates the MOT. The MOT loading time constant is τ b = 26 ms . Atoms can decay to a dark state that is magnetically trapped. The time constant for loading into this magnetic trap is τ d = 410 ms . The total magnetically trapped population is 1.14 × 10 5 atoms, with 85 % residing in the dark states. The magnetically trapped atoms have a temperature of 28 μ K , significantly below the Doppler limit. This population fulfills the requirements for a range of future experiments.
Summary form only only given. We report on trapping of /sup 40/K atoms at low temperatures and high densities in a far-detuned optical trap. The trap is a vertical standing-wave created with about 550 mW of radiation tuned 10 nm on the red of the D/sub 2/ transition, and is loaded from a sample held in a magneto optical trap (MOT) at sub-Doppler temperatures, with the help of a temporal dark-spot phase and a magnetic compression phase. We are able to trap as many as 5/spl times/10/sup 6/ atoms with a lifetime of 200 ms in the F=9/2 ground state. From the temperature of the trapped atoms, which is around 30 /spl mu/K, and the measured trap frequencies (1 kHz radial, 500 kHz axial) we estimate a density of 5/spl times/10/sup 12/ cm/sup -3/.
A combination of current coils and ferromagnetic pole shoes is used to construct a magnetic quadrupole trap for ultra cold neutral atoms. Field gradients of up to 3000 G/cm have been achieved continuously with an electric power consumption of only 10 watts. A maximum field gradient of 1 T/cm is calculated for a current that can be applied for several seconds. The trap has been loaded with 8 × 10 6 lithium atoms ( 7 Li) from a magneto-optical trap and the energy distribution determined by stepwise reduction of the trapping potential. Finally, magnetic trapping of fermionic 6 Li has been demonstrated.