All-optical ion generation for ion trap loading

We have investigated the all-optical generation of ions by photo-ionisation of atoms generated by pulsed laser ablation. A direct comparison between a resistively heated oven source and pulsed laser ablation is reported. Pulsed laser ablation with 10 ns Nd:YAG laser pulses is shown to produce large calcium flux, corresponding to atomic beams produced with oven temperatures greater than 650 K. For an equivalent atomic flux, pulsed laser ablation is shown to produce a thermal load more than one order of magnitude smaller than the oven source. The atomic beam distributions obey Maxwell–Boltzmann statistics with most probable speeds corresponding to temperatures greater than 2200 K. Below a threshold pulse fluence between 280 mJ/cm² and 330 mJ/cm², the atomic beam is composed exclusively of ground-state atoms. For higher fluences ions and excited atoms are generated.     

Simultaneous magneto-optical trapping of lithium and ytterbium atoms towards production of ultracold polar molecules

We have successfully implemented the first simultaneous magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of lithium (⁶Li) and ytterbium (¹⁷⁴Yb) atoms towards production of ultracold polar molecules of LiYb. For this purpose, we developed the dual atomic oven which contains both atomic species as an atom source and successfully observed the spectra of the Li and Yb atoms in the atomic beams from the dual atomic oven. We constructed the vacuum chamber including the glass cell with the windows made of zinc selenium (ZnSe) for the CO₂ lasers, which are the useful light sources of optical trapping for evaporative and sympathetic cooling. Typical atom numbers and temperatures in the compressed MOT are 7×10³ atoms, 640 μK for ⁶Li, 7×10⁴ atoms, and 60 μK for ¹⁷⁴Yb, respectively.     

Continuous transfer and laser guiding between two cold atom traps

We have demonstrated and modeled a simple and efficient method to transfer atoms from a first Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) to a second one. Two independent setups, with cesium and rubidium atoms respectively, have shown that a high power and slightly diverging laser beam optimizes the transfer between the two traps when its frequency is red-detuned from the atomic transition. This pushing laser extracts a continuous beam of slow and cold atoms out of the first MOT and also provides a guiding to the second one through the dipolar force. In order to optimize the transfer efficiency, the dependence of the atomic flux on the pushing laser parameters (power, detuning, divergence and waist) is investigated. The atomic flux is found to be proportional to the first MOT loading rate. Experimentally, the transfer efficiency reaches 70%, corresponding to a transfer rate up to 2.7×10⁸ atoms/s with a final velocity of 5.5 m/s. We present a simple analysis of the atomic motion inside the pushing–guiding laser, in good agreement with the experimental data.     

Experimental evaluation of the gas-phase collision cross-section of effusive Au beam with noble gases: The effect of size and flux

We find that the effusive atomic beam of Au atoms is deflected away by collision with noble gas atoms crossing in a perpendicular geometry with a beam flux of >1 × 10¹⁶/cm²s. The ratio of defected Au atoms is found to increase proportional to the flux of noble gases. In addition, the effective cross-section for the collision between Au and noble gases (Ne, Ar, Xe) is measured to increase in an order of Ne < Ar < Xe. As a result of the increased collision probability, the deflection ratio of Au beam in the noble gases is measured to be enhanced for the Au flux in the range of 1 × 10¹¹–10¹³ Au/cm²s. Our results show that the gas-phase collision can be reliably determined by measuring the deflection ratio. The experimentally determined collision cross-section also explains the variation in the deflection ratio among various noble gases and the importance of a long-range van der Waals interaction between Au and noble gases in the deflection efficiency.     

A diode-laser optical frequency standard based on laser-cooled Ca atoms: Sub-kilohertz spectroscopy by optical shelving detection

We report an optical frequency standard at 657 nm based on laser-cooled/trapped Ca atoms. The system consists of a novel, compact magneto-optic trap which uses 50 mW of frequency-doubled diode laser light at 423 nm and can trap >10⁷ Ca atoms in 20 ms. High resolution spectroscopy on this atomic sample using the narrow 657 nm intercombination line resolves linewidths (FWHM) as narrow as 400 Hz, the natural linewidth of the transition. The spectroscopic signal-to-noise ratio is enhanced by an order of magnitude with the implementation of a “shelving" detection scheme on the 423 nm transition. Our present apparatus achieves a fractional frequency instability of in 1 s with a potential atom shot-noise-limited performance of and excellent prospects for high accuracy. Received 2 November 1998     

Microfabricated evanescent-light funnel with high-intensity cold atom flux

We process a silicon-on-insulator substrate into a funnel with a 25-μm-side square-shaped outlet by photolithography and anisotropic chemical etching. The funnel is utilized to form a cold atomic beam by means of reflection and cooling on repulsive evanescent light. Monte Carlo simulations show that the flux intensity of emitted cold Rb atoms reaches 10¹² cm⁻² s⁻¹. The mean horizontal velocity is estimated to be below 10 cm/s, while the mean vertical velocity decreases in proportion to the outlet side. The evanescent-light funnel can be developed to concentrate 80% of Rb atoms falling from a standard magneto-optical trap.     

Doppler-free multiphotonic spectroscopy in hydrogen applications to Rydberg’s constant

We recall the principle and the general features of Doppler-free multiphotonic absorption. We discuss problems of lineshape and light shift, which are determinant for very high resolution measurements. We describe the recent application of the method on hydrogen atoms or deuterium atoms in an atomic beam experiment. The high precision obtained, of the order of 10⁻⁹, permits to confirm preceding measurements of the ratioM _p /M _e of the masses of proton and electron, and to deduce a new value of the Rydberg’s constant. Improvements of the experiment are in progress for the precision 10⁻¹⁰.     

Two-color photoionization of calcium using SHG and LED light

We present a photoionization method to load single ⁴⁰Ca ions in a linear Paul trap from an atomic beam. Neutral Ca I atoms are resonantly excited from the ground state to the intermediate 4s4p ¹P₁-level using coherent 423 nm radiation produced by single-pass second harmonic generation in a periodically poled KTiOPO₄ crystal pumped with an 120 mW extended-cavity diode laser. Ionization is then attained with a high-power light emitting diode imaged to the trap center, using an appropriately designed optical system composed of standard achromatic doublet lenses. The setup simplifies previous implementations at similar efficiency, and it hardly requires any maintenance at all.     

Fast atom diffraction at metal surface

Fast atoms with energies from 300 eV up to 1.7 keV are scattered under a grazing angle of incidence from a clean and flat Ni(1 1 0) surface. For scattering under ”axial surface channeling” conditions, we observe – as reported recently for insulator and semiconductor surfaces – defined diffraction patterns in the angular intensity distributions for scattered fast ³He and ⁴He atoms. We have investigated the domain of scattering conditions where decoherence phenomena are sufficiently small in order to observe for metal targets quantum scattering of fast atomic projectiles. As a consequence, fast atom diffraction appears to be a general technique with a wide range of applicability in surface science.     

Study of oxygen recombination with a double pulse discharge

Oxygen atoms recombination at the wall is studied by time-resolved Optical Emission Spectroscopy in a pulsed discharge. In order to observe the atomic oxygen emission after discharge pulse, it is indispensable to re-excite O atoms because the lifetime of O* atoms is short. Here is proposed a technique based on a double pulse excitation. Atomic oxygen, created during the main discharge pulse, is probed in a time after-glow with a diagnostic pulse. This diagnostic pulse is as short as possible to only repopulate the atomic excited states, without significant production of supplementary atoms. The intensities of the emission lines O(³P-³S) at 844.6 nm and O(⁵P-⁵S) at 777.4 nm, measured during diagnostic pulse, are observed in the whole time after-glow as a function of delay after main pulse. The decrease of line intensities is related to the recombination of O atoms at the wall. For a “Pyrex” wall at 300 K, the obtained recombination probability γ is 10⁻³. This value is in agreement with previous results. This work was supported by European Community Grant PECO under contract No. CIPA-CT92-4034, by Comenius University under contract No. UK/1590/97 and by Grant Agency SR under contract No. 1/1322/95.     

The violet emissions produced by laser excitation of Na vapor in the 570–595 nm region

We have observed atomic Na and molecular Na₂ emissions in the violet region when Na vapor in a heatpipe (～10³—10¹⁶ atoms/cm³) is irradiated with a pulsed dye laser with output wavelength in the 570–597 nm region. The Na atomic emissions probably result from recombination of Na⁺ + e^- and energy-pooling involving highly excited atoms and molecules, while the diffuse violet emission bands are probably produced through collisions among excited Na atoms and Na₂ molecules.     

Formation of Gallium-induced nanostructures on single crystal HOPG surface

The room temperature growth of gallium atoms on the highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) surface has been performed. The gallium atoms were deposited by thermal evaporation method in an ultra high vacuum system at a base pressure 5 × 10⁻¹⁰ torr. The X-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) studies had been performed to confirm the presence of gallium atoms on HOPG surface. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STM) technique was employed to study the surface morphology of the clean HOPG surface and gallium covered HOPG surfaces which recognize the formation of gallium induced nanostructures. The deconvoluted XPS core level spectra of C (1s) and Ga (3d) demonstrate the possible interaction between substrate and the adsorbate atoms. The STM analysis revealed that the gallium deposition on HOPG led to significant change in the surface morphology. It was observed that the Ga atoms adsorbed as layer structure on HOPG surface for low coverage while quasi one-dimensional chain like nanostructure (1 ± 0.2 nm) has been formed for higher Ga coverage. The nanostructured surfaces induced by Ga deposition are found to be stable and could be used as a template for the growth of metallic nanostructures.     

Atomic surface diffusion on Pt nanoparticles quantified by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy

Aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy allows for the delocalization-free observation of atomic motions on metallic surfaces and thus enables measurements of the diffusion of single atoms on the surfaces of nanoscopic objects such as nanoparticles. Using this recently introduced method, the diffusion coefficient for surface self-diffusion of Pt nanoparticles is determined through the fluctuating occupation of the particle's atomic columns. This diffusion coefficient is determined to lie in the range D ∼ (10⁻¹⁷ … 10⁻¹⁶) cm²/s.     

Investigation of Rb <Emphasis Type="Italic">D</Emphasis><Subscript>1</Subscript> atomic lines in strong magnetic fields by fluorescence from a half-wave-thick cell

It has been experimentally demonstrated that the use of the effect of significant narrowing of the fluorescence spectrum from a nanocell that contains a column of atomic Rb vapor with a thickness of L = 0.5λ (where λ = 794 nm is the wavelength of laser radiation, whose frequency is resonant with the atomic transition of the D ₁ line of Rb) and the application of narrowband diode lasers allow the spectral separation and investigation of changes in probabilities of optical atomic transitions between levels of the hyperfine structure of the D ₁ line of ⁸⁷Rb and ⁸⁵Rb atoms in external magnetic fields of 10–2500 Gs (for example, for one of transitions, the probability increases ∼17 times). Small column thicknesses (∼390 nm) allow the application of permanent magnets, which facilitates significantly the creation of strong magnetic fields. Experimental results are in a good agreement with the theoretical values. The advantages of this method over other existing methods are noted. The results obtained show that a magnetometer with a local spatial resolution of ∼390 nm can be created based on a nanocell with the column thickness L = 0.5λ. This result is important for mapping strongly inhomogeneous magnetic fields.     

Kinetics of the plasmon optical response of Au nanoparticles/TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> catalyst under O<Subscript>2</Subscript> and H<Subscript>2</Subscript> followed by differential diffuse reflectance spectroscopy

The changes in the optical properties of Au/TiO₂ powder catalyst, prepared by the deposition-precipitation method, are measured in the visible range by use of a home-made diffuse differential reflectance spectrometer, when the ambient atmosphere is switched between H₂ and O₂. Two main features are observed: (i) a short wavelength one, located between 400 and 600 nm, is shown to be related to the modifications of the plasmon resonance of the 3-dimensional metallic gold particles with mean size around 4 nm, induced by the exposure to oxygen or by its removal; (ii) a second feature, observed at long wavelengths between 600 and 1100 nm, is extremely sensitive to the exposure to oxygen. This optical feature could be due to the presence in the catalyst, either of Au⁰ clusters of several tens atoms, which are expected to display molecular-like transitions in this optical range, or to specific sites of the Au particles (edge atoms or peripheral atoms at the interface with the TiO₂ support), which could be highly reactive to oxygen.     

Optical magnetometer with submicron spatial resolution based on Rb vapors

It is shown experimentally that use of fluorescence and transmission spectra obtained from nanocells with the thickness of column of rubidium atomic vapor L = λ/2 and L = λ, respectively (λ = 794 nm is the wavelength of laser radiation close to resonance with D ₁-line transition of Rb atoms), by means of a narrowband diode laser allows spectral separation and study of variations of probabilities of atomic transitions between ground and excited states of hfs of D ₁ lines of ⁸⁵Rb and ⁸⁷Rb atoms in the range of magnetic fields from 10 to 5000 G. Small thickness of atomic vapor column (∼390 nm and ∼794 nm) allows applying permanent magnets simplifying essentially creation of strong magnetic fields. Advantages of this technique are discussed as compared with the technique of saturated absorption. The obtained results show that a nanocell with submicrom thickness of vapor column may serve as a basis for designing a magnetometer with submicron local spatial resolution which is important in case of measuring strongly inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Experimental data are in good agreement with the theoretical results.     

Scanning tunneling microscopy on iron-chalcogenide superconductor Fe(Se, Te) single crystal

We have investigated the iron-chalcogenide superconductor Fe(Se, Te) using a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy (STM/STS) technique. STM topography at 4.9 K shows clear regular square arrangements of spots with the lattice spacing ～0.37 nm, from which what we observe are attributed to Se or Te atomic plane. In the topography, brighter and darker atomic spots are randomly distributed, which are most probably due to Te and Se atoms, respectively. For the FeTe compound, the topography exhibits clusters of the bright spots probably arising from separated iron atoms distributing over several Te lattice sites. The STS measurements clarify the existence of the large-size gap with 2Δ = 0.4–0.6 eV.     

Features of plasma plume evolution and material removal efficiency during femtosecond laser ablation of nickel in high vacuum

We present an experimental characterization describing the characteristics features of the plasma plume dynamics and material removal efficiency during ultrashort, visible (527 nm, ≈300 fs) laser ablation of nickel in high vacuum. The spatio-temporal structure and expansion dynamics of the laser ablation plasma plume are investigated by using both time-gated fast imaging and optical emission spectroscopy. The spatio-temporal evolution of the ablation plume exhibits a layered structure which changes with the laser pulse fluence F. At low laser fluences (F<0.5 J/cm²) the plume consists of two main populations: fast Ni atoms and slower Ni nanoparticles, with average velocities of ≈10⁴ m/s for the atomic state and ≈10² m/s for the condensed state. At larger fluences (F>0.5 J/cm²), a third component of much faster atoms is observed to precede the main atomic plume component. These atoms can be ascribed to the recombination of faster ions with electrons in the early stages of the plume evolution. A particularly interesting feature of our analysis is that the study of the ablation efficiency as a function of the laser fluence indicates the existence of an optimal fluence range (a maximum) for nanoparticles generation, and an increase of atomization at larger fluences. PACS 52.50.-b; 52.38.Mf; 79.20.Ds; 81.07.-b     

Absolute density measurement of hydrogen atom in inductively coupled Ar/H2 plasmas using vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy

The absolute density measurement of atomic species such as hydrogen is crucial for plasma processing because of their strong chemical reactivity. In this work, to measure the hydrogen atom density in Ar/H₂ inductively coupled plasmas (ICP), the self-absorption-applied vacuum ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (VUVAS) is studied with a micro-hollow cathode H₂/He discharge lamp (MHCL) emitting VUV light (Lyman alpha line; L_α 121.56 nm). The absolute density of hydrogen atoms in the ICP is investigated for various powers (50 W–850 W) in the low pressure region (30 mTorr–50 mTorr). The hydrogen density in remote plasma region is shown to vary from 2.1 × 10¹¹ cm⁻³ to 1.25 × 10¹² cm⁻³ with respect to plasma power.     

Use of graphene for forming Al-based p-type reflectors for near ultraviolet InGaN/AlGaN-based light-emitting diode

We demonstrated the improved performance of near UV (365 nm) InGaN/AlGaN-based LEDs using highly reflective Al-based p-type reflectors with graphene sheets as a diffusion barrier. The use of graphene sheets did not degrade the reflectance of ITO/Al contacts, viz. ∼81% at 365 nm. The ITO/graphene/Al contacts annealed at 300 °C exhibited better ohmic behavior with a specific contact resistance of 1.5 × 10⁻³ Ωcm² than the ITO/Al contact (with 9.5 × 10⁻³ Ωcm²). Near UV LEDs fabricated with the ITO/graphene/Al contact annealed at 300 °C showed a 7.2% higher light output (at 0.1 W) than LEDs with the ITO/Al reflector annealed at 300 °C. The SIMS results exhibited that, unlike the ITO/graphene/Al, the ITO/Al contacts undergo a significant indiffusion of Al atoms toward the GaN after annealing. Furthermore, both Ga and Mg atoms were also more extensively outdiffused in the ITO/Al contacts after annealing. On the basis of the SIMS and electrical results, the possible explanations for the annealing-induced degradation of the ITO/Al contacts are described and discussed.