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Laser Physics

Optimized design of a permanent Zeeman slower for an ytterbium optical lattice clock

Xiaohang Zhang, Xinye Xu

Published Jun 22, 2016• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract An optimized design of a permanent Zeeman slower for an ytterbium optical lattice clock is presented. The dependences of the magnetic field distributions on the detuning and intensity of the cooling laser are studied. The length and corresponding magnetic field distribution of the slower are analyzed by varying the efficiency parameter and saturation parameter of the cooling laser. Considering the slowing efficiency and the loading rate of the magneto-optical trap, the optimum length of the slower is about 15 cm, and its width is about 10 cm in our case. Finally, an adjustable slower with a slowing efficiency of 15.5% is proposed.

DOI
10.1088/1054-660x/26/7/075501

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Abstract An optimized design of a permanent Zeeman slower for an ytterbium optical lattice clock is presented. The dependences of the magnetic field distributions on the detuning and intensity of the cooling laser are studied. The length and corresponding magnetic field distribution of the slower are analyzed by varying the efficiency parameter and saturation parameter of the cooling laser. Considering the slowing efficiency and the loading rate of the magneto-optical trap, the optimum length of the slower is about 15 cm, and its width is about 10 cm in our case. Finally, an adjustable slower with a slowing efficiency of 15.5% is proposed.
We develop a permanent-magnet Zeeman slower with adjustable magnets along the longitudinal and radial directions. Produced by four arrays of cylindrical magnets, the longitudinal magnetic field in the slower is tunable if relevant parameters vary, for example, laser detuning or intensity. The proposed Zeeman slower can be reconfigured for Sr atoms. Additionally, we demonstrate that the residual magnetic field produced by the permanent magnets in the magneto-optical trap region can be as small as 0.5 Gs.
We describe a simple Zeeman slower design using permanent magnets. Contrary to common wire-wound setups, no electric power and water cooling are required. In addition, the whole system can be assembled and disassembled at will. The magnetic field is however transverse to the atomic motion and an extra repumper laser is necessary. A Halbach configuration of the magnets produces a high quality magnetic field and no further adjustment is needed. After optimization of the laser parameters, the apparatus produces an intense beam of slow and cold (87)Rb atoms. With typical fluxes of (1-5) × 10(10) atoms/s at 30 m s(-1), our apparatus efficiently loads a large magneto-optical trap with more than 10(10) atoms in 1 s, which is an ideal starting point for degenerate quantum gas experiments.
We report the realization of ytterbium magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the dipole-allowed 1 S 0 — 1 P 1 transition at 398.9 nm. The MOT is loaded by a slowed atomic beam produced by a Zeeman slower. All seven stable isotopes of Yb atoms could be trapped separately at different laser detuning values. Over 10 7 174 Yb atoms are collected in the MOT, whereas the atom number of fermionic isotope 171 Yb is roughly 2.3 × 10 6 due to a lower abundance. Without the Zeeman slower, the trapped atom numbers are one order of magnitude lower. Both the even and odd isotopes are recognized as excellent candidates of optical clock transition, so the cooling and trapping of ytterbium atoms by the blue MOT is an important step for building an optical clock.
Transverse Zeeman slower composed of an array of permanent magnets is investigated for Sr optical clock. We calculated the magnetic field distribution of 88 Sr atoms based on experimental condition, achieving a reduction of the velocity of atoms from 410 m/s to 50 m/s. The atoms flux through the transverse magnetic field was 7.9×105. Such permanent Zeeman slower needs no high currents or water cooling and the spatial distribution of its magnetic field can be adjusted. Another advantage of this Zeeman slower is its small size and high reliability. Therefore, a miniature Zeeman slower can be attained.