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Acta Physica Sinica

Measurement of the number of cold atoms trapped in cesium magneto-optical trap via probe absorption

Yanhua Wang, Yang Hai-Jing, Tiancai Zhang, Junmin Wang, 量子光学与光量子器件国家重点实验室，山西大学光电研究所，太原 030006

Published Jan 1, 2006• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The number of cold atoms trapped in magneto-optical trap(MOT) can be derived from probe absorption signal. After the MOT is switched off, the cold cloud freely expands in gravitational field with an initial velocity distribution. So the measurement process can be described with the interaction model between the individual stationary two-level atom and single mode resonate laser. Absorption method can largely improved the measurement precision. In this paper we introduce the physical principle of measurement and demonstrate the whole experimental procedure in detail. The number of atoms trapped in our MOT, (8±0.3)×106 is measured in experiment. And the number of steady-state atoms and the lifetime of atom trapped in MOT was used to deduce the capture rate of MOT.

DOI
10.7498/aps.55.3403

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The number of cold atoms trapped in magneto-optical trap(MOT) can be derived from probe absorption signal. After the MOT is switched off, the cold cloud freely expands in gravitational field with an initial velocity distribution. So the measurement process can be described with the interaction model between the individual stationary two-level atom and single mode resonate laser. Absorption method can largely improved the measurement precision. In this paper we introduce the physical principle of measurement and demonstrate the whole experimental procedure in detail. The number of atoms trapped in our MOT, (8±0.3)×106 is measured in experiment. And the number of steady-state atoms and the lifetime of atom trapped in MOT was used to deduce the capture rate of MOT.
We report the basic idea and experimental demonstration of measuring the temperature of cold cesium atomic cloud confined in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) by analyzing absorption spectrum observed in the short-distance time-of-flight (TOF) method. Compared with the conventional TOF scheme, we measure the temperature of cold atomic cloud in MOT by short-distance TOF method for our small vapor cell. If the cold atomic cloud is released, it will fall and expand due to gravity and its initial velocity distribution. Utilizing a cylindrical resonant probe beam positioned several millimeters beneath the MOT (in this paper, we analyzed the cases for 3mm, 5mm, and 8mm of center-to-center distance between the MOT region and the probe beam, respectively), we can record the short-distance TOF absorption spectrum with a photodiode when cold atoms go through the probe region. Analysis of the short-distance TOF absorption spectrum yields the effective temperature of the cold cloud in MOT.
Based on the real sense of the time-of-flight , we demonstrate an alternative method of measuring the temperature of cold atoms in magneto-optical traps (MOTs) using a high-finesse optical microcavity, which acts as a pointlike single-atom counter. A cloud of atoms trapped in magneto-optical traps is positioned about 5 mm above the cavity, and the atoms fall freely down through the cavity. The temperature of the cold atoms in the MOT is determined by counting the exact arrival times of the single atoms. A theoretical model based on a ballistic expansion of a cloud of trapped atoms falling in the earth’s gravitational field is used to fit the probability distribution of atom arrivals, and the fittings agree very well with the experimental results. This method could be used for systems with little room, where an extra probe beam is hard to involve, or with fewer atoms initially.
We demonstrate enhancement in the number of trapped cesium atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) using a control laser that illuminates only a small faction of the capture region of the trap without interacting with the cold cloud of atoms. The enhancement is maximized when the laser is slightly blue detuned with respect to the cooling transition. Trap loading curves point to approximately a twofold increase in the capture rate, which as a consequence results in the increase in the steady state number of trapped atoms. Enhanced loading is confirmed by MOT loading and decay curves taken under the modulation of the control laser beam. Optical pumping of the inaccessible Zeeman states into the stretched states is suggested as a possible mechanism.
The results of characterization of cold cloud of cesium (Cs) atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) have been presented. The MOT is a part of the Physics package of the Cs Fountain Clock being developed at National Physical Laboratory (NPL), India. The number of atoms, size and temperature of the cloud have been measured and calculated. It is also been investigated how the number of trapped atoms changes with the trapping laser’s beam intensity, detuning and magnetic-field gradient of the trap.
The experimental setup for cooling and trapping~(87)Rb atoms in magneto-optical trap(MOT) and the process of them are briefly introduced in this paper.The number of cold atoms is measured by detecting the fluorescence emitted from~(87)Rb atoms.The laser probe beam is set at the positions which are 4mm,7mm,10mm below the atoms cloud,the short-distance time-of-flight(TOF) Absorption signals are obtained during the falling of atoms.The average temperature of cold atoms is obtained by numerical simulating.The results show that the number of cold atoms is about 10~(9),the density is about 10~(11)/cm~3 and the cooling temperature of atomic cloud is about 200 μK,such cold atoms can be used as good EIT medium.
We present experimental observation of recoil-induced resonance (RIR) in an operating cesium magneto-optical trap (MOT) by both pump–probe absorption and four-wave mixing spectra simultaneously. We investigate the dependence of amplitudes of these two spectra on pump beam intensity and frequency. The measurement results agree well with the recoil-induced theory with modifications of Raman transition effect and atomic number. The systematical study on RIR spectra is meaningful for the diagnostic measurement of cold atoms in an operating MOT.