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arXiv:physics/0508100 · Physical Review Letters

High-Flux Beam Source for Cold, Slow Atoms or Molecules

Stephen Maxwell, Nathan Brahms, Robert deCarvalho, David R. Glenn, Joel S. Helton, Scott V. Nguyen, David Patterson, Jalean Joyanne Petricka, David P. DeMille, John M. Doyle

Published Oct 17, 2005• 192 citations
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Abstract

We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.95.173201

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We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.
We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.
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We demonstrate a cryogenic buffer gas-cooled molecular beam source capable of producing bright, continuous beams of cold and slow free radicals via laser ablation over durations of up to 60 seconds. The source design uses a closed liquid helium reservoir as a large thermal mass to minimize heating and ensure reproducible beam properties during operation. Under typical conditions, the source produces beams of our test species SrF, containing $5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{12}$ molecules per steradian per second in the $X{\phantom{\rule{0.16em}{0ex}}}^{2}\mathrm{\ensuremath{\Sigma}}(v=0,N=1)$ state with a rotational temperature of 1.0(2) K and a forward velocity of 140m/s140\phantom{\rule{0.28em}{0ex}}\mathrm{m}/\mathrm{s}140m/s. The beam properties are robust and unchanged for multiple cell exit geometries, but depend critically on the helium buffer gas flow rate, which must be $\ensuremath{\ge}10$ standard cubic centimeters per minute to produce bright, continuous beams of molecules for an ablation repetition rate of 55 Hz.
We realize a continuous, intense, cold molecular and atomic beam source based on buffer-gas cooling. Hot vapor (up to 600 K) from an oven is mixed with cold (15 K) neon buffer gas, and then emitted into a high-flux beam. The novel use of cold neon as a buffer gas produces a forward velocity distribution and low-energy tail that is comparable to much colder helium-based sources. We expect this source to be trivially generalizable to a very wide range of atomic and molecular species with significant vapor pressure below 1000 K. The source has properties that make it a good starting point for laser cooling of molecules or atoms, cold collision studies, trapping, or nonlinear optics in buffer-gas-cooled atomic or molecular gases. A continuous guided beam of cold deuterated ammonia with a flux of 3×10\\(^{11}\\) ND\\(_{3}\\) molecules s\\(^{−1}\\) and a continuous free-space beam of cold potassium with a flux of 1×10\\(^{16}\\) K atoms s\\(^{−1}\\) are realized.
We realize a continuous, intense, cold molecular and atomic beam source based on buffer-gas cooling. Hot vapor (up to 600 K) from an oven is mixed with cold (15 K) neon buffer gas, and then emitted into a high-flux beam. The novel use of cold neon as a buffer gas produces a forward velocity distribution and low-energy tail that is comparable to much colder helium-based sources. We expect this source to be trivially generalizable to a very wide range of atomic and molecular species with significant vapor pressure below 1000 K. The source has properties that make it a good starting point for laser cooling of molecules or atoms, cold collision studies, trapping, or nonlinear optics in buffer-gas-cooled atomic or molecular gases. A continuous guided beam of cold deuterated ammonia with a flux of 3 × 10 11 ND 3 molecules s −1 and a continuous free-space beam of cold potassium with a flux of 1 × 10 16 K atoms s −1 are realized.
We present a combined experimental and theoretical study of beam formation from a cryogenic buffer gas cell. Atoms and molecules are loaded into the cell by laser ablation of a target, and are cooled and swept out of the cell by a flow of cold helium. We study the thermalization and flow dynamics inside the cell and measure how the speed, temperature, divergence and extraction efficiency of the beam are influenced by the helium flow. We use a finite element model to simulate the flow dynamics and use the predictions of this model to interpret our experimental results.