基于垂直引线和调制电流的三线环形磁导引

提出了一种在单层原子芯片上实现闭合且导引中心无磁场零点的环形磁导引的新方案. 芯片表面刻蚀的导线结构由同心等距三环线构成, 三环线的电流引线垂直于芯片表面. 加载直流电流后, 这种构型即可在芯片表面附近产生闭合的环形磁导引. 交流调制三环线电流后, 环形磁导引的势能极小值附近不再存在磁场零点且其磁场起伏小. 这种方案可用于基于物质波干涉的原子芯片陀螺仪研究.     

Polarization Gradient Cooling by Zeeman-Effect-Assisted Saturated Absorption

A novel and simple method to realize polarization gradient cooling （PGC） is reported. The stabilizing, shifting and rapid tuning of the frequency of the external cavity diode laser is realized by using the Zeeman-effect-assisted Doppler-free saturated absorption technique. Based on this convenient technique, 87Rb cold atoms are captured from room-temperature background vapor in the magneto-optical trap （MOT）. Meanwhile, the steady-state number, the density and the lifetime of atoms in the MOT are measured. Subsequently, a frequency-fast-varying circuit is designed to realize PGC, which is demonstrated effectively and reliably in experiments. The temperature of the cold atom cloud is measured by two different methods, which coincide with each other.     

Stabilization and Shift of Frequency in an External Cavity Diode Laser with Solenoid-Assisted Saturated Absorption

A simple method to realize both stabilization and shift of the frequency in an external cavity diode laser （ECDL） is reported. Due to the Zeeman effect, the saturated absorption spectrum of Rb atoms in a magnetic field is shifted. This shift can be used to detune the frequency of the ECDL, which is locked to the saturated absorption spectrum. The frequency shift amount can be controlled by changing the magnetic field for a specific polarization state of the laser beam. The advantages of this tunable frequency lock include low laser power requirement, without additional power loss, cheapness, and so on.     

Direct loading of atoms from a macroscopic quadrupole magnetic trap into a microchip trap

We demonstrate the direct loading of cold atoms into a microchip 2-mm Z-trap, where the evaporative cooling can be performed efficiently, from a macroscopic quadrupole magnetic trap with a high loading efficiency. The macroscopic quadrupole magnetic trap potential is designed to be moveable by controlling the currents of the two pairs of anti-Helmholtz coils. The cold atoms are initially prepared in a standard six-beam magneto-optical trap and loaded into the macroscopic quadrupole magnetic trap, and then transported to the atom chip surface by moving the macroscopic trap potential. By means of a three-dimensional absorption imaging system, we are able to optimize the position alignment of the atom cloud in the macroscopic trap and the microchip Z-shaped wire. Consequently, with a proper magnetic transfer scheme, we load the cold atoms into the microchip Z-trap directly and efficiently. The loading efficiency is measured to be about 50%.This approach can be used to generate appropriate ultracold atoms sources, for example, for a magnetically guided atom interferometer based on atom chip.