Velocity-tunable cold Cs atomic beam from a magneto-optical trap

The construction of a two-dimensional magneto–optical trap with hollow cooling and pushing(2D-HP MOT) is reported in detail,and a velocity-tunable cold atomic beam produced by this 2D-HP MOT is demonstrated.The magneto–optical trap system,which is constructed by a transparent quartz tube,is low in price,easy to fabricate and assemble,and convenient for atomic trapping and detection.The mean axial velocity of the cold atomic beam can be tuned from 4.5 to 8 m/s,while the atomic flux remains at a level of 10~(10) atoms∕s.This cold atomic beam source can be applied in the areas of high-precision measurements based on cold atoms.     

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     

Multistage two-dimensional magneto-optical trap as a compact cold atom beam source

A compact cold atom beam source based on a multistage two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT) has been demonstrated and characterized. The multiple-stage design greatly reduces the overall size of the source apparatus while providing a high flux of atoms. The cold atom beam was used to load a separate MOT in ultrahigh vacuum, and we obtained an actual trap loading rate of 1.5 x 109 atoms/s while using only 20 mW of total laser power for the source. The entire source apparatus, including optics, can fit into a 4 cm x 4 cm x 13 cm volume.     

Atomic beam guide by a one-dimensional magneto-optical trap

An atomic beam has been collimated, compressed, and deflected simultaneously by an atomic beam guide based on an inclined one-dimensional magneto-optical trap (1D-MOT). Isotope-selected rubidium atoms were extracted from the naturally-mixed thermal atomic beam with this method. We could manipulate the transverse displacement of the deflected beam precisely by adjusting the current in the copper rods to generate the quadrupole magnetic field. We could extract more than 50% of the incident atoms as a deflection beam when we combined this deflection technique with the atomic deceleration using a broadband spectral light. Received: 10 December 1998 / Published online: 24 June 1999     

Focusing of an atomic beam by a Fresnel atom microlens

Focusing of an atomic beam by a Fresnel atom microlens formed by an optical field diffracted by an aperture whose size is comparable to or greater than the radiation wavelength is considered. It is shown that the dipole gradient force enables one to focus the atomic beam to a spot of about 10 nm in diameter. The focusing properties of a Fresnel atom microlens are analyzed within a model describing the dipole interaction of rubidium atoms with monochromatic radiation near the D-line.     

二维磁光阱产生铯原子束的数值模拟

通过分析铯原子在σ~+-σ~-组态的圆偏振光照射下塞曼子能级的分布情况,构造铯原子在二维磁光阱(2D-MOT)中的受力模型,利用龙格-库塔方法求解铯原子的运动方程,实现原子束产生过程的三维模拟.得出原子束流量随小孔半径、铯原子蒸汽压、激光光强、激光失谐量、磁场梯度等的变化规律.与实验数据进行比较表明受力模型的正确性,该方法能直观模拟原子束的产生,准确揭示原子束流量随各项参数的变化规律,为实验提供理论指导.     

以慢原子束方式进行原子转移的双磁光阱系统

建立了一套用于玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚实验的铷原子双磁光阱装置.从低速强源中获得慢原子束，向超高真空磁光阱进行原子转移.低速强源磁光阱与超高真空磁光阱之间可维持3个量级的压强差,超高真空磁光阱的真空度最高可达1×10^-9 Pa. 慢原子束的束流通量达1×10⁹/s. 约4×10⁸个⁸⁷Rb原子被装载到超高真空磁光阱中.还讨论了两种典型情况下磁光阱中装载的最大原子数.     

二维磁光阱产生铯原子束的数值模拟

通过分析铯原子在σ+-σ-组态的圆偏振光照射下塞曼子能级的分布情况,构造铯原子在二维磁光阱(2D-MOT)中的受力模型,利用龙格-库塔方法求解铯原子的运动方程,实现原子束产生过程的三维模拟。得出原子束流量随小孔半径、铯原子蒸汽压、激光光强、激光失谐量、磁场梯度等的变化规律。与实验数据进行比较表明受力模型的正确性, 该方法能直观模拟原子束的产生,准确揭示原子束流量随各项参数的变化规律,为实验提供理论指导。     

Instabilities in a magneto-optical trap: noise-induced dynamics in an atomic system

The instabilities observed in the atomic cloud of a magneto-optical trap are experimentally studied through the dynamics of the center of mass location and the cloud population. Two dynamical components are identified: a slow, stochastic one affects both variables, and a fast, deterministic one affects only the center of mass location. A one-dimensional stochastic model taking into account the shadow effect is developed from these observations and reproduces the experimental behavior. It is shown that instabilities are driven by noise and present stochastic resonancelike characteristics.     

Two-color cesium magneto-optical trap with a ladder-type atomic system

We demonstrate a magneto-optical trap(MOT) with counter-propagating two-color cooling b('ams in a cesium6S1/2 — 6P3/2 — 8S!/2(852.3 + 794.6 nm) atomic system. Based on the conventional MOT due entirely to the852.3 nm cooling laser5 s scattering forces, we replace one of the six 852.3 inn cooling beams witli a 794.6 11111 cooling beam. Our two-color MOT can efficiently cool and trap atoms from the red to blue detuning sides of two-photon resonance without pre-cooling. The technique is promising for the direct generation of correlated photon pairs in a two-color MOT based on diamond-configuration four-wave mixing.     

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     

Continuous loading of a conservative potential trap from an atomic beam

We demonstrate the fast accumulation of 52Cr atoms in a conservative potential from a guided atomic beam. Without laser cooling on a cycling transition, a dissipative step involving optical pumping allows us to load atoms at a rate of 2×10(7) s(-1) in the trap. Within less than 100 ms we reach the collisionally dense regime, from which we produce a Bose-Einstein condensate with subsequent evaporative cooling. This constitutes a new approach to degeneracy where Bose-Einstein condensation can be reached without a closed cycling transition, provided that a slow beam of particles can be produced.     

Enhanced cold mercury atom production with two-dimensional magneto-optical trap

A cold atom source is important for quantum metrology and precision measurement. To reduce the quantum projection noise limit in optical lattice clock, one can increase the number of cold atoms and reduce the dead time by enhancing the loading rate. In this work, we realize an enhanced cold mercury atom source based on a two-dimensional (2D) magneto-optical trap (MOT). The vacuum system is composed of two titanium chambers connected with a differential pumping tube. Two stable cooling laser systems are adopted for the 2D-MOT and the three-dimensional (3D)-MOT, respectively. Using an optimized 2D-MOT and push beam, about 1.3×10⁶ atoms, which are almost an order of magnitude higher than using a pure 3D-MOT, are loaded into the 3D-MOT for ²⁰²Hg atoms. This enhanced cold mercury atom source is helpful in increasing the frequency stability of a neutral mercury lattice clock.     

Forbidden transitions in a magneto-optical trap

We report the first observation of a nondipole transition in an ultracold atomic vapor. We excite the 3P-4P electric quadrupole (E2) transition in 23Na confined in a magneto-optical trap, and we demonstrate its application to high-resolution spectroscopy by making the first measurement of the hyperfine structure of the 4P(1/2) level and extracting the magnetic dipole constant A=30.6+/-0.1 MHz. We use cw optical-optical double resonance accompanied by photoionization to probe the transition.     

Spectroscopy on a modulated magneto-optical trap

We demonstrate a new type of high-resolution two-photon frequency modulation (FM) spectroscopy with cold atoms in a magneto-optical trap. Instead of modulating the probe as in ordinary FM spectroscopy, we modulate the trap itself by FM of the trapping beams. We present theoretical as well as experimental results for both absorption and polarization rotation spectroscopy. Finally, we demonstrate two-photon FM spectroscopy, using the intrinsic phase noise of the trapping diode lasers.     

Focusing an ion beam by axial electrode

To increase the intensity of an ion beam injected in a cyclotron, the possibility of focusing by an axial potential electrode is investigated. The influence of the electric field of an electrode on the beam emittance and that of particle losses on an electrode are estimated. The results of our numerical simulation are compared with theoretical estimations.     

Self-sustained oscillations in a large magneto-optical trap

We have observed self-sustained radial oscillations in a large magneto-optical trap, containing up to 10(10) Rb85 atoms. This instability is due to the competition between the confining force of the magneto-optical trap and the repulsive interaction associated with multiple scattering of light inside the cold atomic cloud. A simple analytical model allows us to formulate a criterion for the instability threshold, in fair agreement with our observations. This criterion shows that large numbers of trapped atoms N>10(9) are required to observe this unstable behavior.     

Light-induced evaporative cooling in a magneto-optical trap

This paper presents an experimental demonstration of light-induced evaporative cooling in a magneto-optical trap. An additional laser is used to interact with atoms at the edge of the atomic cloud in the trap. These atoms get an additional force and evaporated away from the trap by both the magnetic field and laser fields. The remaining atoms have lower kinetic energy and thus are cooled. It reports the measurements on the temperature and atomic number after the evaporative cooling with different parameters including the distance between the laser and the centre of the atomic cloud, the detuning, the intensity. The results show that the light-induced evaporative cooling is a way to generate an ultra-cold atom source.