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A continuous lithium atomic beam source for cryogenic apparatus

Brady Stoll

Published Jan 1, 2017• 0 citations

Abstract

We have created an atomic beam source of lithium atoms for use in a cryogenic environment. \nThis beam source is expected to provide a \nflux of 10 to the 18 atoms/s. The main features of this source \nare a reservoir chamber of solid lithium heated with heater wire, creating a lithium gas that \ntravels down an ohmically heated tube and exits as an effusive beam. That beam is directed at \na cold supersonic jet of helium. As lithium atoms enter the helium gas they rapidly thermalize \nand become entrained. The design challenges faced included directing the heat load away from \nthe cold elements of the cryogenic chamber, obtaining the correct temperatures to provide the \ndesired \nflux, and measuring the beam as it exited the reservoir. Through the use of laser induced fluorescence, we believe we have observed capture of lithium by the helium jet. Such a beam source \ncan be used to form an intense cold atom source with the potential future application of serving \nas a pump source for an atom laser.

DOI: 10.15781/t2319sj3w

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We have created an atomic beam source of lithium atoms for use in a cryogenic environment. \nThis beam source is expected to provide a \nflux of 10 to the 18 atoms/s. The main features of this source \nare a reservoir chamber of solid lithium heated with heater wire, creating a lithium gas that \ntravels down an ohmically heated tube and exits as an effusive beam. That beam is directed at \na cold supersonic jet of helium. As lithium atoms enter the helium gas they rapidly thermalize \nand become entrained. The design challenges faced included directing the heat load away from \nthe cold elements of the cryogenic chamber, obtaining the correct temperatures to provide the \ndesired \nflux, and measuring the beam as it exited the reservoir. Through the use of laser induced fluorescence, we believe we have observed capture of lithium by the helium jet. Such a beam source \ncan be used to form an intense cold atom source with the potential future application of serving \nas a pump source for an atom laser.

We demonstrate an intense, continuous cold atom beam generated via post nozzle seeding of a supersonic helium jet with

^7

Li atoms. The nozzle is cooled to about 4.4 K to reduce the forward velocity of the atoms. The atomic beam is brought to a focus 175 cm from the nozzle by a 10 cm bore diameter magnetic hexapole lens. Absorption and fluorescence imaging of the focus show a flux of

2.3(4) \times 10^{12}

atoms/s, brightness of

4.1(7)\times 10^{19}

\textrm{m}^{-2}\textrm{s}^{-1}\textrm{sr}^{-1}

, forward velocity of 211(2) m/s, and longitudinal temperature of 7(3) mK. Results agree with a Monte Carlo simulation of the seeding dynamics and a particle tracing simulation of the atom lens. We project that 10 times higher flux would be possible with improved vacuum system design. Our method should provide a useful high-brightness source for atom-optical and other atomic and molecular physics applications.

We demonstrate a cryogenic buffer gas-cooled molecular beam source capable of producing bright, continuous beams of cold and slow free radicals via laser ablation over durations of up to 60 seconds. The source design uses a closed liquid helium reservoir as a large thermal mass to minimize heating and ensure reproducible beam properties during operation. Under typical conditions, the source produces beams of our test species SrF, containing $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{12}$ molecules per steradian per second in the $X{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}(v=0,N=1)$ state with a rotational temperature of 1.0(2) K and a forward velocity of

140\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}

. The beam properties are robust and unchanged for multiple cell exit geometries, but depend critically on the helium buffer gas flow rate, which must be $\ensuremath{\ge}10$ standard cubic centimeters per minute to produce bright, continuous beams of molecules for an ablation repetition rate of 55 Hz.

The authors demonstrate an intense, continuous cold atomic beam generated via postnozzle seeding of a supersonic

{}^{4}

He jet with

{}^{7}

Li atoms, which is comparable to the highest flux sources based on laser cooling. The technique could potentially be widely applicable to any paramagnetic atom or molecule.

We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.

We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of beam formation from a cryogenic buffer gas cell. Atoms and molecules are loaded into the cell by laser ablation of a target, and are cooled and swept out of the cell by a flow of cold helium. We study the thermalization and flow dynamics inside the cell and measure how the speed, temperature, divergence and extraction efficiency of the beam are influenced by the helium flow. We use a finite element model to simulate the flow dynamics and use the predictions of this model to interpret our experimental results.