Ultra-Slow Atomic Beam Generation by Velocity Selective Resonance

We describe a method to generate an ultra-slow atomic beam by velocity selective resonance （VSR）. A VSR experiment on a metastable helium beam in a magnetic field is presented and the results show that the transverse velocity of the deflected beam can be cooled and precisely controlled to less than the recoil velocity, depending on the magnitude of the magnetic field. We extend this idea to a cold atomic cloud to produce an ultra-slow 87Rb beam that can be used as a source of an atomic fountain clock or a space clock.     

One-dimensional Doppler laser collimation of chromium beam with a novel pre-collimating scheme

A novel pre-collimating scheme in laser-focused chromium(Cr)atomic deposition is presented.It consists of three apertures,which are one main pre-collimating aperture at centre and two probing apertures with uniform dimension at both sides of the central one.The calculations show that the Cr atomic beam is divided into three parts accordingly after going through this scheme,and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM)of each part decreases while the peak value increases after one-dimensional(1D)Doppler laser collimation,subsequently.Compared with that before laser collimation,the central part does not have displacement,but each part of the other two has the same displacement to the centre after laser collimation. These phenomena which are agreed with experiment prove that the novel pre-collimating scheme is a feasible means to solve the problem which we cannot observe the collimation of Cr atomic beam after substrate in laser-focused deposition with a pre-collimating scheme of only one aperture,because the atoms will be obstructed completely by the substrate.     

One-dimensional Doppler laser collimation of chromium beam with a novel pre-collimating scheme

A novel pre-collimating scheme in laser-focused chromium (Cr) atomic deposition is presented. It consists of three apertures, which are one main pre-collimating aperture at centre and two probing apertures with uniform dimension at both sides of the central one. The calculations show that the Cr atomic beam is divided into three parts accordingly after going through this scheme, and the full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of each part decreases while the peak value increases after one-dimensional (lD) Doppler laser collimation, subsequently. Compared with that before laser collimation, the central part does not have displacement, but each part of the other two has the same displacement to the centre after laser collimation. These phenomena which are agreed with experiment prove that the novel pre-collimating scheme is a feasible means to solve the problem which we cannot observe the collimation of Cr atomic beam after substrate in laser-focused deposition with a pre-collimating scheme of only one aperture, because the atoms will be obstructed completely by the substrate.     

Imaging an atomic beam using fluorescence

A fluorescence detection scheme is applied to image an atomic beam. Using two laser diodes as the sources of detection light and pumping light respectively, the fluorescence image of the atomic beam is then observed by a commercial CCD-camera, which is corresponding to the atomic state and velocity distribution. The detection scheme has a great utilization in the experiments of cold atoms and atomic optics.     

Time evolution of atomic inversion in a standing wave light field

The interaction between an atomic beam of two-level atoms and a standing wave light field has been studied by the exact solution of a time-dependent quantum system developed recently. When the initial atomic state is choosen to be ground, we find that with the limit of zero detuning the atoms will oscillate between the upper and the lower levels with a decaying amplitude. The most interesting result obtained in this paper is when the initial atomic state is a particular superposition of the two levels, now the system does not oscillate at any time.     

High-Efficiency Spectral-Beam-Combined 930 nm Diode Laser Source

Spectral beam combining is an effective way to achieve high-brightness direct diode laser output.We present an experimental study on spectral beam combining with external cavity based on transmission grating.Using a series of cylindrical transform lenses with different focal lengths,spectral beaming combining efficiency is greatly improved,and the results of wavelength intervals are consistent with the theoretical calculations.With the injection current of 90 A,a 75.1 W cw 930 nm output power with wavelength span of 18.6 nm and spectral beam combining efficiency of 92.7% is achieved,the beam parameter product is 5.77 mm·mrad.     

Effect of Trimethyl Aluminium Surface Pretreatment on Atomic Layer Deposition Al2O3 Ultra-Thin Film on Si Substrate

Ultra-thin Al2O3 dielectric films have been deposited on Si substrates by using trimethyl aluminium （TMA） and water as precursors in an atomic layer deposition （ALD） system. Growth of the interracial layer between ultra-thin Al2O3 and the Si substrate is effectively suppressed by a long-time TMA surface pretreatment of the Si substrate prior to A1203 atomic layer deposition. High resolution transmission electron microscopy （TEM） images show that the thickness of the interracial layer is reduced to be 0.5nm for the sample with TMA pretreatment lasting 3600s. The x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results indicate that the A1203 film deposited on the TMApretreated Si surface exhibits very good thermal stability. However, a hysteresis of about 50mV is observed in the C- V curve of the samples with the TMA pretreatment.     

Tuning the velocity and flux of a low-velocity intense source of cold atomic beam

We investigate experimentally and numerically the quantitative dependence of characteristics of a low-velocity intensity source(LVIS) of atomic beam on light parameters, especially the polarization of cooling laser along the atomic beam axis(pushing beam). By changing the polarization of the pushing beam, the longitudinal mean velocity of a rubidium atomic beam can be tuned continuously from 10 to 20 m/s and the flux can range from 3 × 10~8 to 1 × 10~9 atoms/s, corresponding to the maximum sensitivity of the velocity with respect to the polarization angle of 20(m/s)/rad and the mean sensitivity of flux of 1.2 × 10~9(atoms/s)/rad. The mechanism is explained with a Monte-Carlo based numerical simulation method, which shows a qualitative agreement with the experimental result. This is also a demonstration of a method enabling the fast and continuous modulation of a low-velocity intense source of cold atomic beam on the velocity or flux,which can be used in many fields, like the development of a cold atomic beam interferometer and atom lithography.     

Intense source of cold cesium atoms based on a two-dimensional magneto–optical trap with independent axial cooling and pushing

We report our studies on an intense source of cold cesium atoms based on a two-dimensional(2D) magneto–optical trap(MOT) with independent axial cooling and pushing.The new-designed source,proposed as 2D-HP MOT,uses hollow laser beams for axial cooling and a thin pushing laser beam to extract a cold atomic beam.With the independent pushing beam,the atomic flux can be substantially optimized.The total atomic flux maximum obtained in the 2D-HP MOT is4.02 × 1010atoms/s,increased by 60 percent compared to the traditional 2D+MOT in our experiment.Moreover,with the pushing power 10 μW and detuning 0Γ,the 2D-HP MOT can generate a rather intense atomic beam with the concomitant light shift suppressed by a factor of 20.The axial velocity distribution of the cold cesium beams centers at 6.8 m/s with an FMHW of about 2.8 m/s.The dependences of the atomic flux on the pushing power and detuning are studied in detail.The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical model.     

Entangled Radiation through an Atomic Reservoir Controlled by Coherent Population Trapping

We show that it is possible to generate Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen （EPR） entangled radiation using an atomic reservoir controlled by coherent population trapping. A beam of three-level atoms is initially prepared in nearcoherent population trapping （CPT） state and acts as a long-lived coherence-controlled reservoir. Four-wave mixing leads to amplification of cavity modes resonant with RabJ sidebands of the atomic dipole transitions. The cavity modes evolve Jnto an EPR state, whose degree of entanglement is controlled by the intensities and the frequencies of the driving fields. This scheme uses the long-lived CPT coherence and is robust against spontaneous emission of the atomic beam. At the same time, this scheme is implemented in a one-step procedure, not in a two-step procedure as was required in Phys. Rev. Lett. 98 （2007） 240401.