Magnetic trapping of long-lived cold Rydberg atoms

We report on the trapping of long-lived strongly magnetized Rydberg atoms. 85Rb atoms are laser cooled and collected in a superconducting magnetic trap with a strong bias field (2.9 T) and laser excited to Rydberg states. Collisions scatter a small fraction of the Rydberg atoms into long-lived high-angular momentum "guiding-center" Rydberg states, which are magnetically trapped. The Rydberg atomic cloud is examined using a time-delayed, position-sensitive probe. We observe magnetic trapping of these Rydberg atoms for times up to 200 ms. Oscillations of the Rydberg-atom cloud in the trap reveal an average magnetic moment of the trapped Rydberg atoms of approximately -8microB. These results provide guidance for other Rydberg-atom trapping schemes and illuminate a possible route for trapping antihydrogen.     

Experimental progress in gravity measurement with an atom interferometer

Precisely determining gravity acceleration g plays an important role on both geophysics and metrology. For gravity measurements and high-precision gravitation experiments, a cold atom gravimeter with the aimed resolution of 10.⁻⁹g/Hz^1/2 (1 g=9.8 m/s²) is being built in our cave laboratory. There will be four steps for our ⁸⁷Rb atom gravimeter, Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) for cooling and trapping atoms, initial state preparation, π/2-π-π/2 Raman laser pulse interactions with cold atoms, and the final state detection for phase measurement. About 108 atoms have been trapped by our MOT and further cooled by moving molasses, and an atomic fountain has also been observed.      

EXPERIMENTAL STUDY ON LASER COOLING OF CESIUM ATOMS BY OPTICAL MOLASSES

We have studied the relationship between the temperature of Cs cold atoms and the parameters of the cooling laser. The atoms are first cooled and captured by a magnetooptical trap and then further coaled by optical molasses. The temperature of atoms la measured by a time-of-flight method. For relatively large laser intensity and small detuning, the temperature depends linearly on the intensity-to-detuning ratio, and nonlinear relationship has alao been found in other case.     

A novel controllable double-layer magnetic lattice with cold atoms

We propose a novel array of controllable double-well magnetic microtraps for cold atoms by using an array of square current-carrying wires and two additional bias magnetic fields. Arrays of double layer magnetooptical traps (MOTs) and Ioffe traps can be constructed by using same wire configurations and different currents and bias fields. Furthermore, the array of double-well magnetic microtraps can be continuously evolved as an array of single-well magnetic microtraps by reducing the currents in the wires. Our study shows that our scheme can be used to realize a controllable double-layer magnetic lattice with cold atoms, to form array of Bose-Einstein condensations (BECs), or to study atom interference, and so on.     

Laser cooling and trapping of ytterbium atoms

The experiments on the laser cooling and trapping of ytterbium atoms are reported, including the two-dimensional transversal cooling, longitudinal velocity Zeeman deceleration, and a magneto-optical trap with a broadband transition at a wavelength of 399 nm. The magnetic field distributions along the axis of a Zeeman slower were measured and in a good agreement with the calculated results. Cold ytterbium atoms were produced with a number of about 10⁷ and a temperature of a few milli-Kelvin. In addition, using a 556-nm laser, the excitations of cold ytterbium atoms at ¹S₀-³P₁ transition were observed. The ytterbium atoms will be further cooled in a 556-nm magneto-optical trap and loaded into a three-dimensional optical lattice to make an ytterbium optical clock.      

Beyond optical molasses: 3D raman sideband cooling of atomic cesium to high phase-space density

We demonstrate a simple, general purpose method to cool neutral atoms. A sample containing 3x10(8) cesium atoms prepared in a magneto-optical trap is cooled and simultaneously spin polarized in 10 ms at a density of 1.1x10(11) cm (-3) to a phase space density nlambda(3)(dB) = 1/500, which is almost 3 orders of magnitude higher than attainable in free space with optical molasses. The technique is based on 3D degenerate Raman sideband cooling in optical lattices and remains efficient even at densities where the mean lattice site occupation is close to unity.     

Novel 1D optical molasses composed of two elliptical Gaussian beams with an ultrahigh orbital angular-momentum

We propose a novel scheme to form a 1D optical molasses by using two counter-propagating red-detuned elliptical Gaussian beams possessing an ultrahigh orbital angular-momentum. In this optical molasses, atoms will suffer both an axial and an azimuthal Doppler cooling, and their temperature can be far below the conventional Doppler cooling limit, which provides a new opportunity for the laser cooling of the most abundant bosonic isotopes of alkaline-earth atoms. Because these atoms lack the hyperfine structure, they cannot be cooled by the well-known sub-Doppler cooling schemes.     

~(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.     

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.     

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     

中性原子的表面双磁光阱及其应用

提出了一种新的采用载流导线的表面双磁光阱(MOT)方案(即双U型导线磁光阱方案)。通过改变中间U型导线中的电流大小,即可将一个双磁阱连续地合并为一个单磁阱,反之亦然。详细计算和分析了上述双U型载流导线磁光阱方案的磁场及其梯度的空间分布,研究发现当导线中的电流为600 A,z方向均匀偏置磁感应强度为-4.0×10-3 T时,双U型导线方案产生的两个磁阱中心的磁场梯度约为1.5×10-3~2.5×10-3 T/cm,结合通常制备磁光阱时所用的三维粘胶(Molasses)光束即可在基底表面附近形成一双磁光阱。理论分析表明在弱光近似下,每个磁光阱中所能俘获的85Rb原子数约为106 量级,相应的磁光阱温度约为270μK。由于双磁光阱可以独立制备,所以双U型导线方案特别适用于制备双样品磁光阱,并用于研究双原子样品的冷碰撞性质。     

Efficient inter-trap transfer of cold francium atoms

We report on the status of the FrPNC experiments and summarize our plans for measurements of parity non-conservation (PNC) in a sample of cold francium. The FrPNC collaboration has commissioned a laser cooling apparatus at the TRIUMF accelerator that collects and cools francium atoms for PNC experiments. We have recently demonstrated the robust, high efficiency transfer (50 %) of laser cooled francium atoms to a second laser cooling apparatus, located 0.7 m below the first, where the PNC experiments will be conducted.     

Trapping and manipulating neutral atoms with electrostatic fields

We report on experiments with cold thermal (7)Li atoms confined in combined magnetic and electric potentials. A novel type of three-dimensional trap was formed by modulating a magnetic guide using electrostatic fields. We observed atoms trapped in a string of up to six individual such traps, a controlled transport of an atomic cloud over a distance of 400 microm, and a dynamic splitting of a single trap into a double well potential. Applications for quantum information processing are discussed.     

Three-dimensional cooling of cesium atoms in a reflecting copper cylinder

We present what is to our knowledge the first observation of spin-polarized atoms cooled within a reflecting cylinder in a high-power medium. A low-pressure vapor of cesium atoms is stored in a glass cell whose volume is 58 cm(3). Cooling laser light (lambda=852 nm) is injected into the cell by optical fibers and is recycled by multiple reflections from the walls of the cylinder. The technique used in this experiment greatly simplifies the generation of laser-cooled atoms. A maximum of 2.5 x 10(8) cold atoms was detected by a time-of-flight technique. The damping of atomic motion has lead to temperatures as low as 3.5muK .     

Landau quantization and time dependence in the ionization of cold, strongly magnetized Rydberg atoms

The electric-field-ionization and autoionization behavior of cold Rydberg atoms of 85Rb in magnetic fields up to 6 T is investigated. Multiple ionization potentials and field-ionization bands reflecting the Landau energy quantization of the quasifree Rydberg electron are observed. The time-resolved and state-selective field-ionization study provides evidence of mixing and spin flips of the Rydberg electron. Spin-orbit coupling combined with mixing gives rise to a Feshbach-type autoionization of metastable positive-energy atoms.     

Long distance magnetic conveyor for precise positioning of ultracold atoms

We describe a chip-based magnetic conveyor that transports ultracold atoms with high positioning accuracy over long distances, into an interaction region which is well separated from the magneto-optical trap and gives good optical access to the atoms. The conveyor can work in two different modes, with or without external bias field. The transport potential is generated by a two-layer conductor pattern, enabling a significantly smoother transport than our earlier single-layer conveyor. This is confirmed by numerical field calculations, using an optimization procedure that minimizes shape deformations as well as deviations from the linear transport path. We experimentally demonstrate the use of this conveyor in the mode with external bias field, transporting a cloud of cold atoms over a linear distance of 6 cm and a total distance of 24 cm. We also describe an on-chip quadrupole trap that can be rotated by π/2. This trap is used to remove design constraints on the orientation of the laser beams in the surface magneto-optical trap. The long-distance conveyor is a versatile tool for experiments with trapped cold atoms, and can achieve sub-micrometric positioning precision. Possible applications of this tool are discussed.     

Asymmetric high-energy ion emission from argon clusters in intense laser fields

Clusters of 2x10(3) to 4x10(4) Ar atoms are Coulomb exploded in intense (up to 8x10(15) W cm(-2)) laser fields. The dependence of multiply charged argon ion energies on the polarization state of light is probed. A directional asymmetry in the ion-explosion energies is observed for the highest charge states. The ion-energy distribution consists of a low-energy isotropic component, and a high-energy anisotropic one. The results are discussed in terms of an asymmetric Coulomb-explosion scenario.     

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.     

非线性磁光效应用于测量磁光阱四极磁场的方案

为了研究磁光阱冷原子团所在区域的磁场大小,从而得出磁场零点附近磁场的微弱变化及其分布。提出利用右旋圆偏振作为探测光场穿过冷原子,根据左右旋圆偏振光场引起的跃迁几率的不同,导致穿过冷原子团零点前后探测场跃迁几率的变化,用来计算零点附近由冷原子团引起的非线性磁光效应,通过这一效应推导出旋转角随磁场大小的变化,从而获得了磁光阱四极磁场零点附近数量级达到10^-13T的磁场值。利用这一效应,同时在理论上获得了不同于以往理论及实验的双峰色散曲线。     

Laser excitation of positronium in the Paschen-Back regime

Zeeman mixing of singlet and triplet 2P states of positronium (Ps) atoms, followed by decay back to the ground state, can effectively turn a long-lived triplet atom into a short-lived singlet state, which would seem to preclude laser cooling of Ps in a magnetic field. Here we report experiments which show that, in fact, because of the large splitting of the n=2 states in a high magnetic field (the Paschen-Back regime), the amount of such mixing diminishes approximately exponentially with an increasing magnetic field >0.01 T and is essentially eliminated above ～2 T. Thus, laser cooling of Ps should be feasible at high fields, which will facilitate the production of a Ps Bose-Einstein condensate.