稳定的高亮度低速亚稳态氦原子束流

稳定的高强度原子束流源是很多精密测量实验的关键.亚稳态(2~3S)氦原子的精密光谱测量在检验量子电动力学、测定精细结构常数研究中受到重要关注.本文利用激光冷却方法增强束流强度、通过塞曼减速器降低原子的纵向速度,并利用反馈控制稳定束流强度.实验测得,所产生的亚稳态氦原子连续束流在(100±3.6)m/s速度下,强度达5.8×10~(12)atoms/(s·sr),相对稳定度为0.021%.利用该原子束,示范了在仅0.1%的饱和光强条件下进行4 He原子2~3S—2~3 P跃迁的光谱探测,此时由探测光功率带来的频移低于1 kHz.     

应用于铯原子喷泉钟的二维磁光阱研制

理论模拟研究了二维磁光阱原子束流量与饱和蒸汽压、冷却光强、激光失谐量的关系, 构建了二维磁光阱(2D-MOT)装置, 实验上实现了大流量的慢速原子束, 其测量值为2.1× 10⁹/s.利用荧光法测量了各实验参数与流量的关系, 测量结果与数值模拟结果符合较好. 关键词： 2D-MOT 流量 慢速原子束 铯原子喷泉钟     

铬原子束横向一维激光冷却的蒙特卡罗方法仿真

激光汇聚铬原子沉积实验中,铬原子束准直度的好坏非常重要.利用蒙特卡罗随机思想选取原子轨迹初始条件,将⁵²Cr原子以外的其他同位素、纵向速度分布和横向发散角等因素综合考虑,对铬原子束横向一维激光冷却进行了优化分析.经过与均匀取值法比较,这种方法能够更好地体现原子运动的不确定性,挑选出不参与冷却过程的同位素,使考察界面内原子束的横向位置分布更好的符合实验结果.结果显示,冷却过程中其他同位素的存在使原子束横向位置分布的中心最大值减小9.3%,半高宽增加11%,并且增加轮廓曲线的基底. 关键词： 激光冷却 蒙特卡罗方法 铬原子束     

高通量冷原子束流的实现与测量

我们在实验上基于铯原子的2D+磁光阱获得了通量为8.5×1010原子/s、平均速度与速度分布分别为16 m/s与4 m/s、空间发散角为25 mrad的冷原子束流,通过相敏的飞行时间法对原子束流的通量进行了准确测量,并对背景原子气压、推送光功率以及冷却光失谐等参量对原子束流的影响进行了实验研究与分析.     

激光准直Cr原子束的实验研究

利用多普勒原理对Cr原子束进行横向准直.应用激光感生荧光技术稳定激光器的频率，把激光器的中心频率稳定在偏离Cr原子共振中心频率-5±0.26MHz的位置.根据理论计算出准直激光束的最小尺寸为13.7mm.根据实验数据选择合适的参数，实现利用多普勒原理横向准直Cr原子束，使原子束的横向分布缩小到原来的1/3. 关键词： 激光准直 激光感生荧光稳频 多普勒冷却     

利用激光冷却原子束测量氦原子精密光谱

⁴He原子2³S₁→2³P_0,1,2跃迁的精细结构分裂,目前在理论和实验上都能够达到10^-8水平的精度,并可被应用于测定精细结构常数α, 和对量子电动力学进行检验.该方面实验研究的关键, 是需要提高测量信噪比,并消除各种可能的系统偏差, 将这一精细结构分裂测量到亚kHz水平.在设计的这套实验方案中, 首次结合激光冷却原子技术,通过激光横向冷却来提高亚稳态氦原子束的束流强度,并对三态亚稳态氦原子进行偏折, 将其从原子束中分离,从而大幅降低测量背景,并利用频率锁定激光器的边带扫描的方式来进行光谱测量,以使得扫描测量中保持足够的频率精度. 在目前基本搭建成的实验装置上,实验方法的可行性已经获得验证,分析表明有望实现亚千赫兹水平的测量准确度.     

超冷铷铯极性分子振转光谱的实验研究

利用激光冷却俘获技术在双暗磁光阱中获得高密度的超冷铷原子和铯原子,通过光缔合方法制备超冷铷铯极性分子.采用共振增强双光子电离技术探测基三重态a³∑⁺的铷铯分子,产率约为10⁴/s.通过改变缔合光频率,获得（2）0⁺,（3）0^-,（2）0^-等分子态的高分辨振转光谱,拟合得到相应的转动常数分别为0.00349 cm^-1,0.00649 cm^-1,0.00372 cm^-1.     

一种低速、连续、单色性好的冷原子束

本文提出一种利用磁光阱冷却捕获技术制备低速、连续、单色性好原子束的方法及技术.采用3维磁光阱从背景Rb蒸汽中捕获Rb87原子进行冷却、捕获形成原子云团,利用在纵向方向上结构设计的小孔将冷原子云团推出形成冷原子束,并在原子束行进方向上采用2维光学黏胶对原子束进行准直,采用态制备激光对其进行态制备,全部制备到Rb87原子的基态能级|F=1>上,从而为原子惯性技术(原子干涉仪、原子重力仪、原子加速度计)、原子频标(原子钟)提供低速、连续、单色性好的原子束.文章对于制备技术的实验系统及实验结果进行了详细的阐述.     

利用塞曼减速法实现锶同位素的磁光阱俘获

利用塞曼减速法在磁光阱(MOT)中实现锶原子一级冷却,使用塞曼减速器对进入阱区前的热原子束进行减速,实验时该减速器线圈通入10.2 A电流,阱区反亥姆霍兹线圈通入10 A电流时,中心区域线性磁场梯度为4 mT/cm,用于冷却和俘获的激光波长为461 nm,其对应于锶原子(5s~2)~1S_0→(5s5p)~1P_1的能级跃迁。通过实验获得了锶4种同位素的冷原子团、探测到相应的冷原子荧光光谱,并且测定其中~(88)Sr,~(87)Sr和~(86)Sr的冷原子数目分别为1.759×10~6,1.759×10~5和2.638×10~5。     

钇原子亚稳态寿命的测量

利用基态原子无穷长的寿命以及亚稳态原子在飞行过程中的衰减,比较由激光感应荧光法测量到的钇原子束基态和亚稳态的速度分布曲线,经过拟合处理计算,得到钇原子亚稳态a~2D_(5/2)的寿命为(0.8±0.2)ms.     

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     

Continuously transferring cold atoms in caesium double magneto-optical trap

We have established a caesium double magneto-optical trap (MOT) system for cavity-QED experiment, and demonstrated the continuous transfer of cold caesium atoms from the vapour-cell MOT with a pressure of ～ 1×10^-6 Pa to the ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) MOT with a pressure of ～ 8×10^-8 Pa via a focused continuous-wave transfer laser beam. The effect of frequency detuning as well as the intensity of the transfer beam is systematically investigated, which makes the transverse cooling adequate before the atoms leak out of the vapour-cell MOT to reduce divergence of the cold atomic beam. The typical cold atomic flux got from vapour-cell MOT is ～2×10⁷ atoms/s. About 5×10⁶ caesium atoms are recaptured in the UHV MOT.     

Loading of a cold atomic beam into a magnetic guide

We demonstrate experimentally the continuous and pulsed loading of a slow and cold atomic beam into a magnetic guide. The slow beam is produced using a vapor loaded laser trap, which ensures two-dimensional magneto-optical trapping, as well as cooling by a moving molasses along the third direction. It provides a continuous flux larger than 10⁹ atoms/s with an adjustable mean velocity ranging from 0.3 to 3 m/s, and with longitudinal and transverse temperatures smaller than 100 μK. Up to 3×10⁸ atoms/s are injected into the magnetic guide and subsequently guided over a distance of 40 cm. Received 19 February 2002 Published online 28 June 2002     

Zeeman laser cooling of <Superscript>85</Superscript>Rb atoms in transverse magnetic field

The process of Zeeman laser cooling of ⁸⁵Rb atoms in a new scheme employing a transverse magnetic field has been experimentally studied. Upon cooling, the average velocity of atoms was 12 m/s at a beam intensity of 7.2×10¹² s^?1 and an atomic density of 4.7×10¹⁰ cm^?3.     

A cold 87Rb atomic beam

We demonstrate an experimental setup for the production of a beam source of cold ⁸⁷Rb atoms. The atoms are extracted from a trapped cold atomic cloud in an unbalanced three-dimensional magneto-optical trap. Via a radiation pressure difference generated by a specially designed leak tunnel along one trapping laser beam, the atoms are pushed out continuously with low velocities and a high flux. The most-probable velocity in the beam is varied from 9 m/s to 19 m/s by varying the detuning of the trapping laser beams in the magneto-optical trap and the flux can be tuned up to 4×10⁹ s^-1 by increasing the intensity of the trapping beams. We also present a simple model for describing the dependence of the beam performance on the magneto-optical trap trapping laser intensity and the detuning.     

Spectral characteristics of cold rubidium atoms in a dark magneto-optical trap

Spectral characteristics of rubidium atoms confined in a dark magneto-optical trap (DMOT) are measured, including probe absorption spectra and atom density as a function of the cooling and repumping laser frequencies. The trap can capture and cool more than 2.5 × 10⁸ rubidium atoms, confining them in a hyperfine state weakly perturbed by the laser beams used to form the trap. The optical density of the trapped atomic cloud approaches 9. A qualitative model of the DMOT operation is presented, based on the experimental results obtained.     

Laser cooling of thulium atoms

We demonstrated laser cooling and trapping of thulium atoms at sub-Doppler temperatures in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Up to 3 × 10⁶ thulium atoms were trapped in the MOT at temperatures down to 25(5) μK which is approximately 10 times lower than the Doppler limit. The lifetime of atoms in the MOT varied between 0.3–1.5 s and was restricted mostly by optical leaks from the upper cooling level. The lower limit for the leaking rate was estimated to be 22(6) s⁻¹. Due to a big magnetic moment of Tm atoms, a part of them were trapped in a magnetic trap from the quadrupole field of the MOT. We observed about 3 × 10⁴ purely magnetically trapped atoms at temperature of 25 μK with a lifetime in the trap of 0.5 s. Also we set up a “dark” MOT consisting of six crossed hollow beams which increased the number of trapped atoms by a factor of 5 leading to 1.5 × 10⁷ atoms at the expense of higher temperature.     

Efficient generation of cold atoms towards a source for atom lithography

We report on the efficient generation of cold rubidium atoms as a potential coherent atom source for atom lithography. We successfully trapped and cooled 2.6 × 10⁸ atoms in 5 s with a conventional magneto-optical trap simply by enlarging the diameter of the laser beam to 20 mm. The size of the laser-cooled atom cloud was measured to be 10 × 7 × 7 mm³. The number of trapped atoms was approximately 10 times as large as that of previous typical results, while the loading time of atoms remained the same.     

Compact magneto-optical trap for rubidium atoms

The characteristics of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) using small-diameter cooling laser beams are considered. Trapping and cooling of Rb atoms from the surrounding gas of warm atoms takes place in the trap. A compact (140 μm) and stable atomic cloud is obtained with a density of 7 × 10¹⁰ cm^?3, which is three orders of magnitude higher than the density of the surrounding gas.     

Cold atomic beam from a rubidium funnel

We report an experimental demonstration of a continuous, slow and cold beam of rubidium atoms from a two-dimensional magneto-optic trap or atomic funnel. Typically 7.3(7)×10⁸ atoms/s are ejected from the funnel with a variable velocity in the range 2–8 m/s and a temperature of 45–55 μK in the moving frame. This represents the first demonstration of sub-Doppler laser cooling in an atomic beam and temperatures as low as ≈25 μK have been observed. Received: 30 September 1999 / Published online: 5 April 2000