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Acta Physica Sinica

Design and research of two-dimensional magneto-optical trap of sodium atom using permanent magnets

Zi‐Liang Li, Zhenlian Shi, Pengjun Wang

Published Jan 1, 2020• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

It is helpful to make full use of the laboratory space by simplifying the cold atom experimental system, especially in the area of aerospace and precision measurement. We present a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2DMOT) for sodium atoms, whose magnetic field is produced by four sets of permanent magnets, and the residual field in the vertical direction is used for a Zeeman slower. The atoms are cooled and trapped in a 2DMOT which provides a highly efficient atomic flux for three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3DMOT) in a high-vacuum chamber. The maximum 3DMOT loading rate is measured to be 2.3 × 109/s by optimizing the parameters of the Zeeman slower and the 2DMOT. The atom number trapped in 3DMOT is 6.2 × 109. The 2DMOT designed by using permanent magnets has the property of compact structure and simple size, which can be used to cool and trap other neutral atoms.

DOI
10.7498/aps.69.20200266

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It is helpful to make full use of the laboratory space by simplifying the cold atom experimental system, especially in the area of aerospace and precision measurement. We present a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2DMOT) for sodium atoms, whose magnetic field is produced by four sets of permanent magnets, and the residual field in the vertical direction is used for a Zeeman slower. The atoms are cooled and trapped in a 2DMOT which provides a highly efficient atomic flux for three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3DMOT) in a high-vacuum chamber. The maximum 3DMOT loading rate is measured to be 2.3 × 109/s by optimizing the parameters of the Zeeman slower and the 2DMOT. The atom number trapped in 3DMOT is 6.2 × 109. The 2DMOT designed by using permanent magnets has the property of compact structure and simple size, which can be used to cool and trap other neutral atoms.
Abstract The atom source is a relevant component in many atomic molecular optics experiments. The compactness and efficiency of the source are fundamental issues, acquiring more importance as the complexity of the experiments increases. Characterizing new techniques to produce high atom flux is necessary to know the efficiency and peculiarities of each one. This allows choosing the most suitable source for a specific experiment. In this work, we show a direct comparison between a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D-MOT) and a Zeeman slower (ZS) as source of cold sodium atoms to load a standard three-dimensional magneto-optical trap. The optimum parameters for each case are obtained by observing the loading rate and the final number of atoms in the 3D-MOT. We conclude that the 2D-MOT provides a high flux of atoms comparable with that produced by the ZS, but with an enormous advantage with respect to the size of the apparatus.
We present a compact source of cold sodium atoms suitable for the production of quantum degenerate gases and versatile for a multi-species experiment. The magnetic field produced by permanent magnets allows to simultaneously realize a Zeeman slower and a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) within an order of magnitude smaller length than standard sodium sources. We achieve an atomic flux exceeding 4 × 10(9) atoms/s loaded in a MOT, with a most probable longitudinal velocity of 20 m/s, and a brightness larger than 2.5 × 10(12) atoms/s/sr. This atomic source allows us to produce pure Bose-Einstein condensates with more than 10(7) atoms and a background pressure limited lifetime of 5 min.
We present the design, implementation, and detailed experimental characterization and comparison with numerical simulations of two-dimensional magneto-optical traps (MOTs) of bosonic 23Na and 39K atoms for loading the cold atomic mixture in a dual-species 3DMOT with a large number of atoms. We report our various measurements pertaining to the characterization of two 2D+MOTs via the capture rate in the 3DMOT and also present the optimized parameters for the best performance of the system of the cold atomic mixture. Under the optimized condition, we capture more than 3 × 101039K atoms and 5.8 × 10823Na atoms in the 3DMOT simultaneously from individual 2D+MOTs with a capture rate of 5 × 1010 and 3.5 × 108 atoms/sec for 39K and 23Na, respectively. We also demonstrate improvements of more than a factor of 5 in the capture rate in the 3DMOT from the cold atomic sources when a relatively high-power ultraviolet light is used to cause light-induced atomic desorption in the 2D+MOT glass cells. A detailed study of the light assisted interspecies cold collisions between the co-trapped atoms is presented, and interspecies loss coefficients have been determined to be βNaK ∼ 2 × 10−12 cm3/sec. The cold atomic mixture would be useful for further experiments on quantum simulation with ultra-cold quantum mixtures in optical potentials.
Abstract The optical tweezer experiment with neutral atoms is widely used for quantum information research. Here, we present a compact dual magneto-optical trap (MOT) setup for a two-species optical tweezer. Rubidium (Rb) atoms are directly captured using a vapor MOT, while potassium (K) atoms are collected via a 2-stage MOT. Both the quadratic and gradient magnetic fields required for the MOT and Zeeman slower are created by permanent magnets. With the help of the Zeeman slower, the K MOT loading efficiency is enhanced by a factor of three. After the MOT stage, we apply D 1 gray molasses to reduce the temperature of the K atoms to 9 μK. Using this apparatus, both Rb and K are loaded into the optical tweezer.
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.
A cold atom source is important for quantum metrology and precision measurement. To reduce the quantum projection noise limit in optical lattice clock, one can increase the number of cold atoms and reduce the dead time by enhancing the loading rate. In this work, we realize an enhanced cold mercury atom source based on a two-dimensional (2D) magneto-optical trap (MOT). The vacuum system is composed of two titanium chambers connected with a differential pumping tube. Two stable cooling laser systems are adopted for the 2D-MOT and the three-dimensional (3D)-MOT, respectively. Using an optimized 2D-MOT and push beam, about 1.3×106 atoms, which are almost an order of magnitude higher than using a pure 3D-MOT, are loaded into the 3D-MOT for 202Hg atoms. This enhanced cold mercury atom source is helpful in increasing the frequency stability of a neutral mercury lattice clock.