A slow and dark atomic beam

S. Miranda, Sérgio Ricardo Muniz, Gustavo Deczka Telles +3 more

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.

John C. Howell, Ryan M. Camacho

Sena Gildélia de Miranda, Sérgio Ricardo Muniz, Gustavo Deczka Telles +3 more

Summary form only given. Here, we present an alternative to conventional beam slowing and off-axis magneto optical trap (MOT) loading. A dark spot placed in the center of the slowing beam makes a shadow on the position of the trap, allowing a large flux of slow atoms to be captured into the trap, without being disturbed. We have characterized this process using different dark spot sizes and different slower laser frequencies and intensities.

J. P. Marangos

C. H. Ying, Ziquan Shi, Weiwei Tan +1 more

Wolfgang Ketterle, David E. Pritchard