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Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference

Radiofrequency spectroscopy of trapped neutral atoms

David E. Pritchard, Kristian Helmerson, Min Xiao, K.-X. Sun

Published Apr 24, 1989• 0 citations
OpenAlex

Abstract

We have recently demonstrated rf resonance experiments on Na atoms contained in a magnetic trap.1,2 Sequential rf pulses with appropriate frequencies were applied to a sample of ~2×1010 Na atoms (confined in an ~100-cm3 volume) to transfer population between the four trapped magnetic substates. The relative populations of the magnetic substates were detected by sending a weak narrowly collimated probe laser beam along the axis of the trap and monitoring the induced fluorescence with a photodiode (placed along the wall of the trap enclosure) located at the longitudinal magnetic field minimum. Hence we are sensitive only to light emanating from the small fraction of atoms near the magnetic field minimum.

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We have recently demonstrated rf resonance experiments on Na atoms contained in a magnetic trap.1,2 Sequential rf pulses with appropriate frequencies were applied to a sample of ~2×1010 Na atoms (confined in an ~100-cm3 volume) to transfer population between the four trapped magnetic substates. The relative populations of the magnetic substates were detected by sending a weak narrowly collimated probe laser beam along the axis of the trap and monitoring the induced fluorescence with a photodiode (placed along the wall of the trap enclosure) located at the longitudinal magnetic field minimum. Hence we are sensitive only to light emanating from the small fraction of atoms near the magnetic field minimum.
We have continuously stopped thermal sodium atoms with laser light and loaded them into a 0.1-K deep superconducting magnetic trap. The trap is formed by a local minimum of the magnetic field produced by two superconducting coils and a radially confining octupole field. The atoms are slowed and stopped in two stages: The atoms are first slowed to ~200 m/s using a counterpropagating resonant laser beam and tapered magnetic field to compensate for the changing Doppler shift as the atoms are slowed.1 A second laser beam and tapered magnetic field, actually located within the trap, are used to stop the atoms in the trap. This continuous loading process has allowed us to accumulate up to 1 × 109 trapped atoms, and trapping times of several minutes have been achieved. Our trap has the feature of having a uniform magnetic field at its bottom, opening up the possibility of precision spectroscopy of the trapped atoms. The fluorescence from the trapped atoms has been studied, and they have been cooled to ~1 mK using 1-D optical molasses.
A configuration of magnetic fields is exhibited which can harmonically trap paramagnetic particles in a shallow field minimum, superposed on a nearly uniform field which simplifies spectroscopic interactions with the particles. The potential energy of a trapped neutral particle depends on the particle's internal quantum number, as well as its position in the trap, permitting a combined rf-laser optical pumping cycle which can cool particles by a factor of 2 per cycle. Application of these ideas to the trapping of Na atoms is discussed.