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Physical Review Letters

Low-Velocity Intense Source of Atoms from a Magneto-optical Trap

Zheng‐Tian Lu, Kristan L. Corwin, Michael J. Renn, Michael H. Anderson, Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman

Published Oct 14, 1996• 269 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have produced and characterized an intense, slow, and highly collimated atomic beam extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT). The technique used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6 mm diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}/\mathrm{s}$ and a pulsed flux 10 times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70% of the atoms trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.77.3331

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arXiv:physics/0201034•Jan 16, 2002•0 citations
We have produced and characterized an intense, slow, and highly collimated atomic beam extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT). The technique used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6 mm diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of 5\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi109/s5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}/\mathrm{s}5\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi109/s and a pulsed flux 10 times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70% of the atoms trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam.
© 2008 by World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd. All rights reserved. We have produced and characterized an intensc, slow, and highly collimatcd atomic bcani extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT). Thc tcchniquc used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6 nini diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of 5 X 109/s and a pulsed flux 10 times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70% of the atonis trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam. [SO03 1 -9007(96)01434-21].
We experimentally study the use of two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping (2D-MOT) for the generation of slow beams of cold atoms out of a vapor cell. A particularly high flux of $9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$ rubidium atoms/s at a mean velocity of 8 m/s is obtained using a combination of magneto-optical trapping in two dimensions and Doppler cooling in the third dimension $({2\mathrm{D}}^{+}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{MOT}).$ The resulting width of the velocity distribution is 3.3 m/s [full width at half maximum (FWHM)] with a beam divergence of 43 mrad (FWHM). We investigate the total flux as a function of vapor cell pressure and determine the velocity distribution of our slow atom sources. For comparison, we also realized a low-velocity intense source (LVIS), first reported by Lu et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 77, 3331 (1996)]. We find that the ${2\mathrm{D}}^{+}\ensuremath{-}\mathrm{MOT}$ yields a significantly higher flux than the LVIS, even when used with an order of magnitude less laser power.
We produced a slow atomic beam of rubidium with a low-velocity intense source (LVIS) and loaded a magneto-optical trap (MOT) in a connected chamber with the beam. The hole for the atomic beam allowed us to keep the MOT chamber at a much lower pressure than that of the LVIS. The LVIS produced an atomic beam with a continuous flux of (4.3±0.4)×109/s and an average velocity of only 11±3 m/s. The MOT captured the atoms with 67±15% efficiency, which was limited by the atomic-beam divergence. The MOT held 6×109 atoms with a typical trap-confinement time of 8 s.
We discuss the implementation and characterization of the source of a slow, intense, and collimated beam of rubidium atoms. The cold atomic beam is produced by two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping in directions transverse to the atomic beam axis and unbalanced Doppler cooling in the axial direction. The vacuum design allows use of relatively low laser power and a considerably simplified assembly. The atomic beam has a high flux of about $2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{10}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{atoms}∕\mathrm{s}$ at a total cooling laser power of 55mW55\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mW}55mW. It has a narrow longitudinal velocity distribution with mean velocity 15m∕s15\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}∕\mathrm{s}15m∕s with full width at half maximum 3.5m∕s3.5\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}∕\mathrm{s}3.5m∕s and has a low divergence of 26mrad26\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{mrad}26mrad. The high flux enables ultrafast loading of about 1010{10}^{10}1010 atoms into a three-dimensional (3D) magneto-optical trap within 500 ms. The variation of the atomic beam flux was studied as a function of the rubidium vapor pressure, cooling laser power, transverse cooling laser beam length, detuning of the cooling laser, and relative intensities of the cooling beams along the atomic beam axis. We also discuss a detailed comparison of our measurements of the cold atomic beam with a 3D numerical simulation.
We present a two-dimensional (2D) magneto-optical trap (MOT) setup for the production of a continuous collimated beam of cold 87Rb{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms out of a vapor cell. The underlying physics is purely two-dimensional cooling and trapping, which allows for a high flux of up to $6\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{10}$ atoms/s and a small divergence of the resulting beam. We analyze the velocity distribution of the 2D MOT. The longitudinal velocity distribution of the atomic beam shows a broad feature (full width at half maximum $\ensuremath{\simeq}75 \mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}),$ centered around 50 m/s. The dependence of the flux on laser intensity, on geometry of the trapping volume, and on pressure in the vapor cell was investigated in detail. The influence of the geometry of the 2D MOT on the mean velocity of the cold beam has been studied. We present a simple model for the velocity distribution of the flux based on rate equations describing the general features of our source.
We present a 2D-MOT setup for the production of a continuous collimated beam of cold 87-Rb atoms out of a vapor cell. The underlying physics is purely two-dimensional cooling and trapping, which allows for a high flux of up to 6*10^(10) atoms/s and a small divergence of the resulting beam. We analyze the velocity distribution of the 2D-MOT. The longitudinal velocity distribution of the atomic beam shows a broad feature(FWHM=75m/s), centered around 50m/s. The dependence of the flux on laser intensity, geometry of the trapping volume and on pressure in the vapor cell was investigated in detail. The influence of the geometry of the 2D-MOT on the mean velocity of the cold beam has been studied. We present a simple model for the velocity distribution of the flux based on rate equations describing the general dependencies.