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Journal of Experimental and Theoretical Physics Letters

Focusing of an Atomic Beam for the Efficient Loading of an Atom Chip

Anton E. Afanasiev, Dar'ya V. Bykova, P. I. Skakunenko, V. I. Balykin

Published May 1, 2022• 9 citations
Publisher

Abstract

A method has been proposed to increase the rate of loading of atoms in a U-magneto-optical trap near an atom chip. The method is based on the focusing of a slow atomic beam into the localization region of the atom chip. The overdamped focusing regime has been considered. In this case, the focal length is independent of the initial transverse velocity of atoms. It has been shown that the focusing of the atomic beam makes it possible to increase the loading rate in the localization region 250 μm in diameter by a factor of 160.

DOI
10.1134/s0021364022100496

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Physical Review A•Jan 1, 1999•21 citations
A method has been proposed to increase the rate of loading of atoms in a U-magneto-optical trap near an atom chip. The method is based on the focusing of a slow atomic beam into the localization region of the atom chip. The overdamped focusing regime has been considered. In this case, the focal length is independent of the initial transverse velocity of atoms. It has been shown that the focusing of the atomic beam makes it possible to increase the loading rate in the localization region 250 μm in diameter by a factor of 160.
Various regimes of the loading of a magneto-optical trap formed near an atom chip, such as loading from thermal atomic vapors and from a low-velocity atomic beam, have been studied on an example of 87Rb atoms. The possibility of controlling the loading of the magneto-optical trap by spatially controlling the atomic beam has been demonstrated. This has made it possible to increase the loading rate of atoms into the magneto-optical trap with keeping ultrahigh vacuum near the atom chip. The maximum number of atoms in the magneto-optical trap at optimal loading regimes is 4.9 × 107. In this case, the measured lifetime of atoms in the magneto-optical trap is 4.1 s.
The focusing of an atomic beam with the use of a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap in order to increase the number of atoms in the region of their laser cooling and localization near an atom chip is discussed. Two regimes of the interaction of atoms with a focusing laser field are considered: (i) the Doppler interaction regime, which occurs at small detunings of the laser field from the atomic resonance, and (ii) the sub-Doppler interaction regime, which occurs at large detunings of the laser field from the atomic resonance. The efficiency of focusing in the first case is low because of the momentum diffusion. It has been shown that the momentum diffusion in the sub-Doppler cooling mechanism is insignificant and, as a result, the broadening of the transverse velocity distribution of atoms is small. The sharp focusing of the atomic beam is possible in this interaction regime.
The focusing of an atomic beam with the use of a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap in order to increase the number of atoms in the region of their laser cooling and localization near an atom chip is discussed. Two regimes of the interaction of atoms with a focusing laser field are considered: (i) the Doppler interaction regime, which occurs at small detunings of the laser field from the atomic resonance, and (ii) the sub-Doppler interaction regime, which occurs at large detunings of the laser field from the atomic resonance. The efficiency of focusing in the first case is low because of the momentum diffusion. It has been shown that the momentum diffusion in the sub-Doppler cooling mechanism is insignificant and, as a result, the broadening of the transverse velocity distribution of atoms is small. The sharp focusing of the atomic beam is possible in this interaction regime.
A method for focusing neutral atoms based on the light-pressure force in a nonuniform magnetic field is proposed and analyzed. Its particular scheme is realized by means of a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap using a thermal beam of Rb atoms. A feature of this focusing method is the linear dependence of the focal length on the longitudinal velocity of atoms in contrast to the quadratic dependence in the known methods of focusing material-particle beams. The minimum size of the waist of the focused atomic beam is equal to 270 µm. Owing to focusing by means of the two-dimensional magneto-optical trap, the velocity monochromatization of a thermal atomic beam is realized: the width of the distribution of the longitudinal atomic velocities in the beam is reduced from 350 to 60 m/s.
We decelerated an atomic beam of 87{}^{87}87Rb using a stimulated-emission slowing technique that employs a bichromatic standing light wave of high intensity, and increased the atom number in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) of low capture velocity by up to a factor of 14, and the load rate into the MOT by a factor of 20. We performed the slowing over distances under 1.5 cm with 5.2 mW of total power in the bichromatic beams. The average stimulated force was 2.2 times the maximum spontaneous emission force, and could be made even stronger in a smaller apparatus.
We have performed continuous slowing of an atomic beam to load a magneto-optical trap (MOT) on axis. To avoid the undesirable effects of the strong slowing laser on the performance of the MOT, a dark spot in the center of the slowing laser beam is used. We varied the spot size and the slowing-laser frequency and intensity to optimize the number of trapped atoms. Our ``dark-spot'' slowing increased the number of trapped atoms by a factor of 30, allowing us to trap $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{9}$ atoms in the MOT.