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Optical Engineering

Experiments with laser-cooled rubidium atoms

A. Pietiläinen, Hanne Ludvigsen, Hannu Talvitie, Erkki Ikonen

Published Sep 1, 1995• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report on an experimental study of cold rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Fluorescent light from the cloud of trapped atoms was collected onto a CCD (charge coupled device) camera. The number density of atoms and the lifetime of the trap are deduced from the recorded CCD images. Special emphasis is given to the calibration of the COD camera.

DOI
10.1117/12.208092

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We report on an experimental study of cold rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Fluorescent light from the cloud of trapped atoms was collected onto a CCD (charge coupled device) camera. The number density of atoms and the lifetime of the trap are deduced from the recorded CCD images. Special emphasis is given to the calibration of the COD camera.
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Spectral characteristics of rubidium atoms confined in a dark magneto-optical trap (DMOT) are measured, including probe absorption spectra and atom density as a function of the cooling and repumping laser frequencies. The trap can capture and cool more than 2.5 × 10 8 rubidium atoms, confining them in a hyperfine state weakly perturbed by the laser beams used to form the trap. The optical density of the trapped atomic cloud approaches 9. A qualitative model of the DMOT operation is presented, based on the experimental results obtained.
A fluorescence detection scheme coupled to a highly sensitive nitrogen-cooled CCD camera is used to image the spatial distribution of a low-density falling rubidium atomic cloud released from an optical trap. The falling cloud passes through a thin probe laser beam tuned to resonance. The performance of the scheme is illustrated in the analysis of cold atomic clouds collimated by pinholes during their free fall under the influence of gravity. Clouds of approximately 10(4) atoms and with typically 10(6) at./cm(3) density are analyzed spatially with 24-mum resolution. This method is compared with different atomic cloud imaging techniques.
We discuss the results of measurements of the temperature and density distribution of cold Rubidium atoms trapped and cooled in an optical dipole trap formed by focussed CO 2 laser beams at a wavelength of 10.6 μ m from a cold, collimated and intense atomic beam of flux 2 × 10 10 atoms/s produced using an elongated 2D + MOT. A large number of rubidium atoms (⩾ 10 10 ) were trapped in the MOT and the number density of atoms were further increased by making a temporal dark MOT to prevent density-limiting processes like photon rescattering by atoms at the trap centre. Subsequently, between 10 7 to 10 8 cold atoms at a temperature below 30 μK were transferred into a Quasi-Electrostatic trap (QUEST) formed by focussed CO 2 laser beams at the MOT centre. Both single beam and crossed dual beam dipole traps were studied with a total output power of 50 W from the CO 2 laser with focal spot sizes less than 100 microns. Various measurements were done on the cold atoms trapped in the dipole trap. The total atom number in the dipole trap and the spatial atom number density distribution in the trap was measured by absorption imaging technique. The temperature was determined from time-of-flight (TOF) data as well as from the absorption images after ballistic expansion of the atom cloud released from the dipole trap. The results from measurements are used to maximize the initial phase-space density prior to forced evaporative cooling to produce a Bose-Einstein Condensate.
Photoionization of a cold atomic sample offers intriguing possibilities for observing collective effects at extremely low temperatures. Irradiation of a rubidium condensate and of cold rubidium atoms within a magneto-optical trap (MOT) with laser pulses ionizing through one-photon and two-photon absorption processes was performed. Losses and modifications in the density profile of the remaining trapped cold cloud or the remaining condensate sample were examined as functions of the ionizing laser parameters. Ionization cross sections were measured for atoms in a MOT, while in magnetic traps losses larger than those expected for ionization process were measured.