Magneto-optical trapping using planar optics

William McGehee, Daniel S. Barker, Wenqi Zhu +5 more

Bowen Xu, Yuan Sun, Chen Chen +2 more

Zhilong Yu, Yumeng Zhu, Minghao Yao +5 more

The grating-based magneto-optical trap (GMOT) is a promising approach for miniaturizing cold-atom systems. However, the power consumption of a GMOT system dominates its feasibility in practical applications. In this study, we demonstrated a GMOT system based on planar elements that can operate with low power consumption. A high-diffraction-efficiency grating chip was used to cool atoms with a single incident beam. A planar coil chip was designed and fabricated with a low power consumption nested architecture. The grating and coil chips were adapted to a passive pump vacuum chamber, and up to 10 6 87 Rb atoms were trapped. These elements effectively reduce the power consumption of the GMOT and have great potential for applications in practical cold-atom-based devices.

Chasen S Himeda

Chang-Jiang Huang, Hongchen Liu, Liang Chen +4 more

Abstract The planar-integrated magneto-optical trap (PIMOT) offers a promising platform for miniaturizing cold atom systems, but its performance and laser-power efficiency are limited by the typically Gaussian profile of the input laser beam. In this work, we present a simplified and cost-effective beam shaping solution to transform the Gaussian input into a flat-top intensity distribution using a compact system of four spherical lenses. The reshaped light field could potentially enhances PIMOT performance by improving the uniformity of the optical radiation pressure and increasing the trap distance from the chip surface. With this approach, we demonstrate a substantial reduction in the optical power required to trap 2.5 × 10 5 87 Rb atoms, down to 30% compared to a standard Gaussian beam input. Our results open the door to more efficient and flexible PIMOT systems for quantum sensing, metrology, and atom-based quantum technology.

Martine Chevrollier, E. G. Lima, Orlando Di Lorenzo +2 more