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Japanese Journal of Applied Physics

Production of Ultra-Narrow Velocity Distributions of Slow Atoms with the Zeeman Tuning Technique

Sérgio Carlos Zílio, Vanderlei Salvador Bagnato

Published Jan 1, 1993• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have demonstrated the production of an atomic beam with a very narrow velocity distribution through the use of the Zeeman tuning technique together with a stimulated Raman transition. Such a beam has a reasonable density and may be useful for the study of collisions involving low velocity atoms.
DOI
10.1143/jjap.32.186

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Ultra-Narrow Velocity Distributions of Slow Atoms Produced with the Zeeman Tuning Technique

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We report on the use of a stimulated Raman transition in a slowed atomic beam to produce a narrow velocity distribution of atoms in a selected electronic state, which could be used for atomic collisions studies in the low temperature regime(1). The velocity selection is part of the deceleration process and in this sense it is unique. The atomic beam is decelerated by the radiation pressure force exerted on the atoms by a counter- propagating laser beam. The resonance condition is maintained along the deceleration path because the changing Doppler shift is compensated by Zeeman tuning the electronic sublevels(2) with a spatialy inhomogneous magnetic field. At the end of the slowing process, the initial Maxwell-Boltzman distribution is compressed to a narrow velocity distribution (Δv ~ 50 m/s), centered close to v = 0. This velocity bunching(3) increases considerably the number of atoms in each velocity class, allowing the use of velocity selection techniques as a feasible way of studying low velocity collisions.
A new scheme has been developed that produces a slow atomic beam of high brightness with a narrow velocity distribution. The technique can provide long measurement times and high counting rates for future precision experiments. In our initial work, densities of 108{10}^{8}108 Na atoms/cm3{\mathrm{cm}}^{3}cm3 at a velocity of 270 cm/sec and at a temperature of \ensuremath{\sim}200 \ensuremath{\mu}K were obtained.
We have developed a diagnostic tool for the study of Zeeman-compensated slowing of an alkali-metal atomic beam. Our time-of-flight technique measures the longitudinal velocity distribution of the slowed atoms with a resolution below the Doppler limit. Furthermore, it can map the position and velocity distribution of atoms in either ground hyperfine level inside the solenoid without any devices inside the solenoid. The technique reveals the optical pumping effects and shows in detail how the slowing within the solenoid proceeds. We find for Na that most atoms in the chosen hyperfine state are decelerated in the slowing process. The width of the velocity distribution is determined mainly by inhomogeneities in the slowing laser beam. Using the central most uniform part of an expanded laser beam, the width is reduced to 2.5 m/s, corresponding to 3.2 mK. Finally, we discuss and show a method to produce a beam with two-velocity components for the study of head-tail low-energy collisions.
It is known [1-3], that the samples of atoms with a velocity spread much lower than the recoil velocity uR= ħk/M (k is the wave number of exciting light field, M is the mass of atom) can be obtained by use of velocity selection with stimulated Raman transitions. A theoretical analysis of the velocity selection method is presented in [2,3]. So, it was shown in [2] that the formation of such narrow velocity structures is performed not only by the counterpropagating, but also by co-propagating light waves. This fact allows to form the two-dimensional velocity distribution of the widths δvx,y « uR by the velocity selection technique using laser configuration as in Fig. 1b.
High densities of low velocity atoms or molecules may be produced from moving liquid drops. This technique can be useful for filling to high density neutral atom traps that have small well depths. If a drop travels at or near the mean thermal velocity of the atoms that are evaporating from the surface of the drop, the atoms that evaporate in the direction opposite the velocity of the drop have a velocity in the laboratory reference frame greatly reduced by the motion of the drop. These slow atoms may be further cooled in the trap by laser radiation. If the drop is rapidly heated by a laser pulse, the velocity distribution is compressed and the density of the low velocity atoms can be increased. Also the velocity distributions of the atoms evaporating from small drops may be interrogated by their Doppler-shifted resonance lines. This may give new information about liquids with small dimensions.