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.     

Single atoms in an optical dipole trap: towards a deterministic source of cold atoms

We describe a simple experimental technique which allows us to store a small and deterministic number of neutral atoms in an optical dipole trap. The desired atom number is prepared in a magneto-optical trap overlapped with a single focused Nd:YAG laser beam. Dipole trap loading efficiency of 100% and storage times of about one minute have been achieved. We have also prepared atoms in a certain hyperfine state and demonstrated the feasibility of a state-selective detection via resonance fluorescence at the level of a few neutral atoms. A spin relaxation time of the polarized sample of 4.2+/-0.7 s has been measured. Possible applications are briefly discussed.     

Comparison of two absorption imaging methods to detect cold atoms in magnetic trap

Two methods of absorption imaging to detect cold atoms in a magnetic trap are implemented for a high-precision cold atom interferometer.In the first method,a probe laser which is in resonance with a cycle transition frequency is used to evaluate the quantity and distribution of the atom sample.In the second method,the probe laser is tuned to an open transition frequency,which stimulates a few and constant number of photons per atom.This method has a shorter interaction time and results in absorption images which are not affected by the magnetic field and the light field.We make a comparison of performance between these two imaging methods in the sense of parameters such as pulse duration,light intensity,and magnetic field strength.The experimental results show that the second method is more reliable when detecting the quantity and density profiles of the atoms.These results fit well to the theoretical analysis.     

Investigation of cold rubidium Rydberg atoms in a magneto-optical trap

This paper reports on the results of experiments with cold rubidium Rydberg atoms in a magneto-optical trap. The specific feature of the experiments is the excitation of Rydberg atoms in a small volume within a cloud of cold atoms and the sorting of measured signals and spectra according to the number of detected Rydberg atoms. The effective lifetime of the 37P Rydberg state and its polarizability in a weak electric field are measured. The results obtained are in good agreement with theoretical calculations. It is demonstrated that the localization of the excitation volume in the vicinity of the zero-magnetic-field point makes it possible to improve the spectral resolution and to obtain narrow microwave resonances in Rydberg atoms without switching off the quadrupole magnetic field of the trap. The dependence of the amplitude of dipole-dipole interaction resonances in Rydberg atoms on the number of atoms is measured. This dependence exhibits a linear behavior and agrees with the theory for a weak dipole-dipole interaction.     

冷原子在静电势阱中的量子力学效应

用四个点电荷构造一个简单、新颖的静电势阱,并基于含时薛定谔方程和有限差分时间域方法,研究冷原子在该势阱中的量子力学效应.以中性铷原子为例,给出了原子和静电场系统的含时波函数,基态本征能量和本征波函数.结果表明,在这样的静电势阱中,囚禁中性冷原子是完全可能的.所得结果对实验上构造类似的静电势阱捕获中性冷原子有重要指导意义 关键词： 冷原子 静电势阱 量子力学效应     

Cooling induced by parametric resonance in a magnetic quadrupole trap

It is demonstrated experimentally that the anharmonic property of the quadrupole trap can be exploited to cool trapped atoms by modulating the trap potential anisotropically.This cooling effect arises from the energy-selective removal of the most energetic trapped atoms and the thermal equilibrium of the remaining atoms.The frequency dependences of the temperature and the fraction of the atoms left in the trap after the modulation are explored.It is also demonstrated that the cooling induced by parametric resonance can also increase the phase space density of the trapped atoms.     

Sympathetic cooling of polyatomic molecules with S-state atoms in a magnetic trap

We present a rigorous theoretical study of low-temperature collisions of polyatomic molecular radicals with (1)S(0) atoms in the presence of an external magnetic field. Accurate quantum scattering calculations based on ab initio and scaled interaction potentials show that collision-induced spin relaxation of the prototypical organic molecule CH(2)(X(3)B(1)) (methylene) and nine other triatomic radicals in cold (3)He gas occurs at a slow rate, demonstrating that cryogenic buffer-gas cooling and magnetic trapping of these molecules is feasible with current technology. Our calculations further suggest that it may be possible to create ultracold gases of polyatomic molecules by sympathetic cooling with alkaline-earth atoms in a magnetic trap.     

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.     

Absorption spectroscopy of cold caesium atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap

Absorption spectra of cold caesium atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap are measured around D_2 line at 852nm with a weak probe beam. Absorption reduction dip due to electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) effect induced by the cooling/trapping field in a V-type three-level system and a gain peak near the cycling transition are clearly observed. Several mechanisms mixed with EIT effect in a normal V-type three-level system are briefly discussed. A simple theoretical analysis based on a dressed-state model is presented for interpretation of the absorption spectra.     

Cyclotron dynamics of neutral atoms in optical lattices with additional magnetic field and harmonic trap potential

We analytically and numerically discuss the stability and dynamics of neutral atoms in a two-dimensional optical lattice subjected to an additional harmonic trap potential and artificial magnetic field. The harmonic trap potential plays a key role in modifying the equilibrium state properties of the system and stabilizing the cyclotron orbits of the condensate.Meanwhile, the presence of the harmonic trap potential and lattice potential results in rich cyclotron dynamics of the condensate. The coupling effects of lattice potential, artificial magnetic field, and harmonic trap potential lead to single periodic, multi-periodic or quasi-periodic cyclotron orbits of the condensate. So we can control the cyclotron dynamics of neutral atoms in optical lattice by manipulating the strength of harmonic confinement, artificial magnetic field, and initial conditions. Our results provide a direct theoretical evidence for the cyclotron dynamics of neutral atoms in optical lattices exposed to the artificial gauge magnetic field and harmonic trap potential.     

Manipulation of cold atoms by an adaptable magnetic reflector

Adaptive optics for cold atoms has been experimentally realized by applying a bias magnetic field to a static magnetic mirror. The mirror consist of a 12-mm-diameter piece of commercial videotape, having a sine wave of wavelength 25.4 μm recorded in a single track across its width, curved to form a concave reflector with radius of curvature R=54 mm. We have studied the performance of the mirror by monitoring the evolution of a 24 μK cloud of ⁸⁵Rb atoms bouncing on it. A uniform static external magnetic field was added to the mirror field causing a corrugated potential from which the atoms bounce with increased angular spread. The characteristic angular distribution of the surface normal is mapped at the peak of the bounce for atoms dropped from a height of R/2 and at the peak of the second bounce for a drop height of R/4. In a second experiment a time-dependent magnetic field was applied and the angular distribution of the cloud was measured as a function of field frequency. In this scheme we demonstrate a corrugated potential whose time-dependent magnitude behaves like a diffraction grating of variable depth. Finally a rotating field was added to generate a corrugated potential that moves with a velocity given by the product of the external field rotation frequency and the videotape wavelength. This travelling grating provides a new method of manipulation as cold atoms are transported across the surface by surfing along the moving wave. Two theoretical methods have been developed to predict the behaviour of atoms reflecting from these stationary, variable magnitude and moving corrugated potentials. A simple analytic theory provides excellent agreement for reflection from a stationary corrugated potential and gives good agreement when extended to the case of a travelling grating. A Monte Carlo simulation was also performed by brute force numeric integration of the equations of motion for atoms reflecting from all three corrugated potential cases. Received: 1 December 1999 / Revised version: 3 February 2000 / Published online: 5 April 2000     

Coherent population trapping states with cold atoms in a magnetic field

Using potassium atoms cooled with a MOT, ground-state hyperfine coherent population trapped (CPT) states were prepared in a magnetic (B) field, and the behavior of CPT states was experimentally studied. We carefully measured the preparation of the CPT state as a function of time and the CPT signal as a function of laser power. The experimental CPT signal linewidth was approximately proportional to the square root of laser intensity in the range of parameters studied, and limits of this relation were explored theoretically.     

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.     

Nanofiber-based double-helix dipole trap for cold neutral atoms

A double-helix optical trapping potential for cold atoms can be straightforwardly created inside the evanescent field of an optical nanofiber. It suffices to send three circularly polarized light fields through the nanofiber; two counterpropagating and far red-detuned with respect to the atomic transition and the third far blue-detuned. Assuming realistic experimental parameters, the transverse confinement of the resulting potential allows one to reach the one-dimensional regime with cesium atoms for temperatures of several μK. Moreover, by locally varying the nanofiber diameter, the radius and pitch of the double-helix can be modulated, thereby opening a realm of applications in cold-atom physics.     

Efficient loading of cesium atoms in a magnetic levitated dimple trap

We report a detailed study of magnetically levitated loading of ultracold ¹³³Cs atoms in a dimple trap. The atomic sample was produced in a combined red-detuned optical dipole trap and dimple trap formed by two small waist beams crossing a horizontal plane. The magnetic levitation for the ¹³³Cs atoms forms an effective potential for a large number of atoms in a high spatial density. Dependence of the number of atoms loaded and trapped in the dimple trap on the magnetic fiel...