Pulsed polarization gradient cooling in an optical dipole trap with a Laguerre-Gaussian laser beam

We utilized a blue-detuned Laguerre-Gaussian (doughnut) laser beam to trap cold rubidium atoms by optical dipole force. ”Pulsed” polarization gradient cooling was applied to the trapped atoms to suppress the trap loss due to heating caused by random photon scattering of the trapping light. In this trap about 10⁸ atoms were initially captured and the trap lifetime was 1.5 s, which was consistent with losses due to background gas collisions. This trap can readily be applied to atom guiding, compression, and evaporative cooling. Received: 10 July 1997 / Received in final form: 5 January 1998 / Accepted: 16 January 1998     

基于磁悬浮大体积交叉光学偶极阱的Dimple光阱装载研究

三维拉曼边带冷却后的铯原子样品装载于一个磁悬浮的大体积交叉光学偶极阱中, 继续加载一个小体积的光学偶极阱后, 实现了Dimple光学偶极阱对铯原子的高效装载. 对不同磁场下磁悬浮大体积光阱的有效装载势能进行理论分析与实验测量, 得出最优化的梯度磁场和均匀偏置磁场, 获得了基于磁悬浮大体积光阱的Dimple光学偶极阱的装载势能曲线, 实现了Dimple光学偶极阱对经拉曼边带冷却后俘获在磁悬浮的大体积光阱中的铯原子样品的有效装载. 比较了Dimple光学偶极阱分别从拉曼边带冷却、大体积的交叉光阱和消除反俘获势后的磁悬浮大体积光阱装载的结果, 将俘获在磁悬浮大体积光阱中的铯原子样品装载到Dimple光学偶极阱, 铯原子样品的密度提高了约15倍.     

磁光阱中超冷钠-铯原子碰撞的实验研究

研究了磁光阱中异核超冷钠铯原子的碰撞机理, 测量了超冷钠原子的碰撞损失率, 得到了钠-铯原子的碰撞损失系数β_Na-Cs与钠原子俘获光强度之间的关系. 利用多普勒模型计算了不同俘获光强度下的钠原子磁光阱的阱深, 得到了临界光强的理论值, 与实验结果符合得较好.     

Anisotropic hyperfine interactions limit the efficiency of spin-exchange optical pumping of ³He nuclei

We use accurate ab initio and quantum scattering calculations to demonstrate that the maximum 3He spin polarization that can be achieved in spin-exchange collisions with potassium (3?K) and silver (1??Ag) atoms is limited by the anisotropic hyperfine interaction. We find that spin exchange in Ag-He collisions occurs much faster than in K-He collisions over a wide range of temperatures (10-600 K). Our analysis indicates that measurements of trap loss rates of 2S atoms in the presence of cold 3He gas may be used to probe anisotropic spin-dependent interactions in atom-He collisions.     

Decoherence due to three-body loss and its effect on the state of a Bose-Einstein condensate

A Born-Markov master equation is used to investigate the decoherence of the state of a macroscopically occupied mode of a cold atom trap due to three-body loss. In the large-number limit only coherent states remain pure for times longer than the decoherence time: the time it takes for just three atoms to be lost from the trap. For large numbers of atoms (N>10(4)) the decoherence time is found to be much faster than the phase-collapse time caused by intratrap atomic collisions.     

Direct measurement of fine structure changing collisional losses in cold trapped 85Rb

Using a technique that consists in ionizing atoms out of the 5P _1/2 fragments originated in the cold collision process, we have measured the contribution of the fine structure changing collision (FS) to the total trap loss rate of cold ⁸⁵Rb. Our results show that FS contribution is responsible for about 4% of the total trap loss. This result should stimulate new theoretical discussions involving exoergic cold collisions. Received 26 October 1998 and Received in final form 2 February 1999     

Cold collisions in strong laser fields: partial wave analysis of magnesium collisions

We have developed Monte Carlo wave function simulation schemes to study cold collisions between magnesium atoms in a strong red-detuned laser field. In order to address the strong-field problem, we extend the Monte Carlo wave function framework to include the partial wave structure of the three-dimensional system. The average heating rate due to radiative collisions is calculated with two different simulation schemes which are described in detail. We show that the results of the two methods agree and give estimates for the radiative collision heating rate for ²⁴Mg atoms in a magneto-optical trap based on the ¹S₀–¹P₁ atomic laser cooling transition.     

Absorption-induced optical bistability and dissipative solitons in a BEC interferometer

A model of the absorption-induced nonlinear response of an atomic Bose-Einstein condensate driven by a weak resonant laser beam is presented. The model takes into account the slow BEC decay due to spontaneous emission and magnetic-trap loss by binary collisions, as well as compensation of the decay by injection of ground-state atoms into the trap. It is shown that the nonlinear response is much stronger than in other nonlinear optical media. For a BEC interferometer driven by a monochromatic beam, the threshold intensity for hysteretic switching is found, and dissipative spatial solitons are demonstrated.     

Simple and efficient magnetic transport of cold atoms using moving coils for the production of Bose–Einstein condensation

We have developed a simple magnetic transport method for the efficient loading of cold atoms into a magnetic trap. Laser-cooled ⁸⁷Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) are transferred to a quadrupole magnetic trap and they are then transported as far as 50 cm by moving magnetic trap coils with a low excess heating of atoms. A light induced atom desorption technique helps to reduce the collision loss during the magnetic transport. Using this method, we can load cold ⁸⁷Rb atoms into a magnetic trap in an ultra high vacuum chamber with high efficiency, and we can produce ⁸⁷Rb condensate atoms. PACS 39.25.+k; 32.80.Pj; 03.75.Pp     

Selfconsistent Electron Energy Distribution Functions in Non Equilibrium oxygen: Effects on the Dissociation Rate

Electron energy distribution functions (edf) in non equilibrium oxygen have been calculated by solving the Boltzmann equation coupled to a system of vibrational master equations. The results show the importance of both superelastic vibrational collisions and of the presence of oxygen atoms in affecting edf. The coupling between the Boltzmann equation and the system of vibrational master equations brings to a temporal evolution of edf, which progressively changes from a cold molecular gas situation (all molecules in the ground vibrational level) to a vibrationally excited molecular gas and finally to a gas composed by oxygen molecules and oxygen atoms. All electronic rate coefficients follow a temporal evolution. due to the corresponding evolution of edf. Finally the present results are used for discussing the dissociation rate of molecular oxygen in electrical discharges.     

Effect of Zeeman Slower Beam on Loading of a Krypton Magneto-Optical Trap

We report the studies on the effect of Zeeman slower beam power on the loading rate and collision loss rate in an atomic beam loaded krypton magneto-optical trap (MOT). The results show that an increase in Zeeman slower beam power initially increases the MOT loading rate and reduces the background collision loss rate to increase the number of cold atoms in the MOT to an optimum value. With further increase in the Zeeman slower beam power, the number of cold atoms in the MOT decreases due to increased background collision loss rate and decrease in the trap loading rate. However, the cold collision loss rate is observed to remain unaffected by the variation in the Zeeman slower beam power. Therefore, the study emphasizes the need to optimize the Zeeman slower beam power to trap maximum number of cold atoms in an atomic beam loaded MOT.     

Laser cooling and trapping of Yb from a thermal source

We have successfully loaded a magneto-optic trap for Yb atoms from a thermal source without the use of a Zeeman slower. The source is placed close to the trapping region so that it provides a large flux of atoms that can be cooled and captured. The atoms are cooled on the transition at 398.9 nm. We have loaded all seven stable isotopes of Yb into the trap including the rarest isotope, ¹⁶⁸Yb. For the most abundant isotope (¹⁷⁴Yb), we load more than 10⁸ atoms into the trap within 1 s. We have characterized the source by studying the loading rate and the loss rate for different isotopes and at different trapping powers. We extract values for the loss rate due to collisions and due to branching into low-lying metastable levels. At the highest trap densities, we find evidence of additional loss due to intra-trap collisions.Received: 15 February 2004, Published online: 23 March 2004PACS: 32.80.Pj Optical cooling of atoms; trapping - 42.50.Vk Mechanical effects of light on atoms, molecules, electrons, and ions     

A continuous cold atomic beam from a magneto-optical trap

We have developed and characterized a new method to produce a continuous beam of cold atoms from a standard vapour-cell magneto-optical trap (MOT). The experimental apparatus is very simple. Using a single laser beam it is possible to hollow out in the source MOT a direction of unbalanced radiation pressure along which cold atoms can be accelerated out of the trap. The transverse cooling process that takes place during the extraction reduces the beam divergence. The atomic beam is used to load a magneto-optical trap operating in an ultra-high vacuum environment. At a vapour pressure of 10^-8mbar in the loading cell, we have produced a continuous flux of 7×10⁷atoms/s at the recapture cell with a mean velocity of 14 m/s. A comparison of this method with a pulsed transfer scheme is presented. Received 19 February 2001     

Light Induced Drift and Heat Transfer of One-Component Gas in a Capillary

The processes of heat transfer and drift of rarefied gas in a capillary due to velocity-selective excitation of atoms by monochromatic light have been investigated. On the basis of kinetic equation the kinetic coefficients defining surface and bulk mechanisms of light induced transfer phenomena in dependence on the Knudsen number, the ratio of the rate of radiative decay of the excited level to the frequency of intermolecular collisions and the accommodation coefficient were calculated.     

Cold N+NH collisions in a magnetic trap

We present an experimental and theoretical study of atom-molecule collisions in a mixture of cold, trapped N atoms and NH molecules at a temperature of ～600 mK. We measure a small N+NH trap loss rate coefficient of k(loss)(N+NH)=9(5)(3)×10(-13) cm(3)?s(-1). Accurate quantum scattering calculations based on ab initio interaction potentials are in agreement with experiment and indicate the magnetic dipole interaction to be the dominant loss mechanism. Our theory further indicates the ratio of N+NH elastic-to-inelastic collisions remains large (>100) into the mK regime.     

Effects of water vapor in high vacuum chamber on the properties of HfO2 films

The influence of water vapor content in high vacuum chamber during the coating process on physical properties of HfO2 films was investigated. Coatings were deposited on BK7 substrates by electron beam evaporation and photoelectric maximum control method. An in situ residual gas analyzer (RGA) was used to monitor the residual gas composition in the vacuum chamber. The optical properties, microstructure,absorption and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of the samples were characterized by Lambda 900 spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction (XRD), surface thermal lensing (STL) technique and 1064-nm Qswitched pulsed laser at a pulse duration of 12 ns respectively. It was found that a cold trap is an effective equipment to suppress water vapor in the vacuum chamber during the pumping process, and the coatings deposited in the vacuum atmosphere with relatively low water vapor composition show higher refractive index and smaller grain size. Meanwhile, the higher LIDT value is corresponding to lower absorbance.     

约束冷原子气体的高增益Raman散射光谱

本文研究了不同外部环境中原子气体在强激光抽运下的相干Raman散射光谱, 通过对固定无反弹原子气体(不考虑外部自由度)和自由原子气体增益光谱的理论计算, 得到了和Mollow实验结果基本一致的光谱曲线.通过与Mollow谱线结构的比较, 揭示了在微阱约束情况下原子气体存在不同于以上两种环境的高增益光谱, 该谱线直接反应了约束阱的性质, 谱线呈等间距梳状结构, 谱线尖锐分辨率高, 和传统的冷原子气体散射增益光谱的实验结果相比较有更大量级的光增益现象. 论文还分析了散射谱线增益的物理机理, 清晰地给出了约束情况下原子增益谱线的非线性Raman共振条件.     

Magnetic trapping of metastable helium atoms

Metastable helium atoms were efficiently transferred from a magneto-optical trap (MOT) to a magnetic quadrupole trap, producing samples of up to 3᎒⁷ magnetically trapped atoms at a temperature of about 1 mK. We observe purely exponential decay of the samples with time constants of 9-10 s and derive an upper bound for the rate coefficient of inelastic Penning collisions.     

Sympathetic cooling of polyatomic molecules with S-state atoms in a magnetic trap

We present a rigorous theoretical study of low-temperature collisions of polyatomic molecular radicals with (1)S(0) atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. Accurate quantum scattering calculations based on ab initio and scaled interaction potentials show that collision-induced spin relaxation of the prototypical organic molecule CH(2)(X(3)B(1)) (methylene) and nine other triatomic radicals in cold (3)He gas occurs at a slow rate, demonstrating that cryogenic buffer-gas cooling and magnetic trapping of these molecules is feasible with current technology. Our calculations further suggest that it may be possible to create ultracold gases of polyatomic molecules by sympathetic cooling with alkaline-earth atoms in a magnetic trap.     

真空冷却过程中实验条件对真空冷却速率的影响

以熟肉为实验材料,对实验条件对真空冷却速率的影响进行了理论分析和实验研究。实验结果表明:真空室有效容积越小、真空泵抽速越高,则真空冷却时间就会越短;冷阱温度对真空冷却速率有着明显的影响;当真空室内的最终压力在0.4～0.61kPa变化时,熟肉的表面温度一直在0℃以上,其真空冷却的时间随着真空室内压力的升高而增加。而真空室内的最终压力在0.3kPa左右时,熟肉的表面温度在真空冷却过程会低于0℃。