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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Optimization of a magneto–optic trap using nanofibers

We experimentally demonstrate a reliable method based on a nanofiber to optimize the number of cold atoms in a magneto–optical trap(MOT) and to monitor the MOT in real time.The atomic fluorescence is collected by a nanofiber with subwavelength diameter of about 400 nm.The MOT parameters are experimentally adjusted in order to match the maximum number of cold atoms provided by the fluorescence collected by the nanofiber.The maximum number of cold atoms is obtained when the intensities of the cooling and re-pumping beams are about 23.5 mW/cm~2 and 7.1 mW/cm~2,respectively; the detuning of the cooling beam is-13.0 MHz, and the axial magnetic gradient is about 9.7 Gauss/cm.We observe a maximum photon counting rate of nearly(4.5 ± 0.1) × 10~5 counts/s.The nanofiber–atom system can provide a powerful and flexible tool for sensitive atom detection and for monitoring atom–matter coupling.It can be widely used from quantum optics to quantum precision measurement.     

Realization of High Optical Density Rb Magneto-optical Trap

We report experimental demonstration of a magneto-optical trap （MOT） of Rb atoms with a high optical density. With 2.2-cm-diameter cooling laser beams, we achieve an optical density of nearly 11 for about 2.6× 10^10 trapped Rb atoms with the beam intensity of about 6.6 mW/cm^2 per beam. The temperature of the cold atoms is about 250 μK. Furthermore, by ramping the magnetic field gradient from 8 G/cm to about 20 G/cm, the atomic cloud in the MOT is compressed and the optical density is up to 16.     

Optical Guiding of Trapped Atoms by a Blue-Detuned Hollow Laser Beam in the Horizontal Direction

Optical guiding of ^Rb atoms in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) by a blue-detuned horizontal hollow laser beam is demonstrated experimentally. The guiding efficiency and the velocity distribution of the guided atoms are found to have strong dependence on the detuning of the guiding laser. In particular, the optimum guiding occurs when the blue detuning of the hollow laser beam is approximately equal to the hyperfine structure splitting of the ^85Rb ground states, in good agreement with the theoretical analysis based on a three-level model.     

Quantum simulation for peak broadening in atom lithography

A grating structure with period of half of the laser wavelength generated by focusing Cr atoms with nearly resonant laser standing wave atom lens was simulated using a quantum-mechanical model.The influence of thermal atomic source on atom focusing,including the statistical distribution of the longitudinal veloc- ity and the beam divergence,was discussed.The background and full-width at half-maximum (FWHM) of atomic density peaks with v_z in Maxwell distribution and v_(x0) in Gaussian distribution increase sig- nificantly compared with ideal atoms.Collimating atoms with laser cooling is necessary to decrease the peak broadening.     

Enhancement of Transfer Efficiency of Cold Atoms Using an Optical Guiding Laser Beam

We transfer cold ^87 Rb atoms from a vapour cell chamber to a spatially separated UHV magneto-optical trap （MOT） with the assistance of a red-detuned optical guiding beam and a normal push beam. Efficient optical guiding of the cold atoms is observed within a small detuning window. A pulsed optical guiding beam enhances the transfer efficiency and hence allows us to collect more atoms in UHV MOT in a shorter time, which is favourable for our experiment of achieving Bose-Einstein condensates （BEC）. Besides the easy operation, another advantage of this optical guiding technique is also demonstrated such that slower atomic beams may be efficiently transferred along horizontal direction. This study is a direct application of the optical guiding technique as a powerful tool.     

Loading of cold ~(87)Rb atom with diffuse light in an integrating sphere

<正>Cold ~(87)Rb atom's loading in an integrating sphere with diffuse light is analyzed theoretically and experimentally. The experimental results show that diffuse light cooling has the greatest efficiency to cool the most atoms when the red detuning between the frequencies of cooling light and atom transition is about 3.3r(Γis the natural linewidth,6.065 MHz).Theoretical analysis using rate equation and numerical calculations on the cold atom number and loading time agree with the experimental results.This integrating sphere cooling would be a novel method for cooling atoms and lead to a new and robust cold atom source for atomic clock.     

用于原子干涉仪实验的锂原子的塞曼减速与磁光囚禁

为了制备适于原子干涉仪实验的低温锂原子样品,开展了锂原子的塞曼减速及与磁光阱囚禁相关的实验研究.设计并实现了一种结构紧凑的腔体内冷式多级线圈叠加的塞曼减速器,将速度小于600 m/s的7Li原子减速到60 m/s,磁光阱装载速率为5×108/s,囚禁原子数目1×109个,原子团的最低温度约为220±30μK.研究了光学黏胶中7Li原子的寿命与囚禁光频率失谐量的关系.这些结果为进一步开展7Li原子亚多普勒冷却、光势阱蒸发冷却以及原子干涉仪实验奠定了基础.     

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.     

磁光阱中单原子荧光信号的优化及单原子的高效装载

实验中首先通过增大四极磁场梯度、提高背景真空度、缩小冷却俘获激光光束直径的方法获得了磁光阱中单原子的装载.其次,通过减小冷却光失谐量、适当增加其光强、同时使用偏振光谱锁频技术抑制冷却光噪声的方法得到了磁光阱中高信号背景比的单原子荧光信号.此外,通过实时反馈控制磁光阱四极磁场梯度的方法,在实验中实现了单原子98%的装载概率.使用Hamburg Brown-Twiss方案测量了磁光阱中的单原子在连续光激发下所辐射荧光的光子统计特性,得到二阶关联度g(2)(τ=0)=0.09.     

~(87)Rb玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体的快速实验制备

采用二维磁光阱产生了-个快速~(87)Rb原子流,并在高真空的三维磁光阱中实现了~(87)Rb原子的快速俘获,进一步采用射频蒸发冷却技术实现了原子云的预冷却,然后将原子转移到远失谐的光学偶极阱中蒸发得到了玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体.实验上可以在25 s内完成三维磁光阱的装载(约1.0×10~(10)个~(87)Rb原子),然后经过16 s的冷却过程最终在光学偶极阱中获得5.0×10~5个原子的玻色-爱因斯坦凝聚体.实验重点研究了二维磁光阱的优化设计和采用蓝失谐大功率光束对四极磁阱零点的堵塞,抑制四极磁阱中原子的马约拉纳损耗,更加有效地对原子云进行预冷却.     

基于~(87)Rb原子的大失谐光晶格的设计与操控

提出了一种基于~(87)Rb原子的大失谐光学晶格的设计方案,详细介绍了光晶格光束的校准、频率失谐的调整以及光强输出的控制方式.在磁光阱和偏振梯度冷却的基础上,研究了光学晶格的总光强和频率失谐等参数对原子装载的影响,实现了光晶格中冷原子的绝热装载与卸载.通过光强调制的方法,测量了光晶格的振动频率.光晶格的引入,使得温度降低为原有的1/3.涉及的系统设计和结论对其他碱金属原子光晶格的实验设计具有参考价值.     

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.     

超冷铯Rydberg原子的Autler-Townes分裂

主要研究超冷铯Rydberg原子阶梯型三能级系统的Autler-Townes(A-T)分裂.铯原子基态6S_(1/2)、第一激发态6P_(3/2)和Rydberg态形成阶梯型三能级系统,强耦合光共振作用于6P_(3/2)(F′=5)→34D_(5/2)的跃迁,探测光由偏振光谱锁定在6S_(1/2)(F=4)→6P_(3/2)(F′=5)的跃迁,并由双通的声光调制器在其共振跃迁附近扫描,形成的Rydberg原子A-T分裂谱由单光子计数器探测.A-T光谱的双峰间距与耦合光的拉比频率成正比,实验结果与理论计算在耦合光拉比频率Ω_c2π×9 MHz时符合得很好,在拉比频率Ω_c2π×9 MHz时,测量的A-T分裂比理论计算值小13%.产生偏差的主要原因是由于较大的耦合光拉比频率Ω_c增加了激发的Rydberg原子数,Rydberg原子间的相互作用产生了较大的退相干率所致.     

Loading of a krypton magneto-optical trap with two hollow laser beams in a Zeeman slower

A significant enhancement in the number of cold atoms in an atomic-beam-loaded magneto-optical trap (MOT) for metastable krypton atoms is observed when hollow laser beams are used in a Zeeman slower instead of a Gaussian laser beam. In the Zeeman slower setup, a combination of two hollow laser beams, i.e., a variable-diameter hollow beam generated using a pair of axicon lenses superimposed on a fixed-diameter hollow beam, has been used to reduce the longitudinal velocity of the atoms in the atomic beam below the capture speed of the MOT. The observed enhancement in the number of atoms in the MOT is attributed to reduced destruction of the atom cloud in the MOT and increased cooling of the off-axis atoms in the atomic beam, resulting from the use of hollow beams in the Zeeman slower.