A high flux,liquid-helium cooled source of metastable rare gas atoms

We have developed a novel, high flux source of metastable rare gas atoms (helium, neon and argon) that uses liquid helium cooling to reduce the initial atomic velocity. Fluxes exceeding 10¹⁴ atoms/ster/s with He and Ne were obtained. With average velocities of 600 m/s for He and 300 m/s for Ne and Ar, this source will enable simpler, more compact beam lines for loading magneto-optical traps. PACS 34.80.Dp; 39.10.+j; 39.25.+k     

Single-mode hollow optical fibres for atom guiding

We present a novel design for a single-mode, hollow optical fibre, which is suitable for use as a waveguide for atomic de Broglie waves. The design, development and characterisation of such a fibre are discussed, as well as an optimised method for coupling light into the fibre. Received: 22 May 2001 / Revised version: 5 September 2001 / Published online: 29 November 2001     

Bright thermal atomic beams by laser cooling: A 1400-fold gain in beam flux

Using a three-step transverse laser cooling scheme, a strongly diverging flow of metastable Ne(3s ³ P ₂] atoms is compressed into a well-collimated, small diameter atomic beam (e.g., 1.4 mrad HWHM divergence at 3.6 mm beam diameter) with an unmodified axial velocity distribution centered at 580 m/s. The maximum increase in beam flux 1.04 m downstream of the source is a factor 1400; the maximum increase in phase space density, i.e., brightness, is a factor 160. The laser power used is only 140 mW. The scheme is extendable to a large variety of atomic species and enables the application of bright atomic beams in many areas of physics.     

C-NOT gate based on ultracold Rydberg atom interactions

The Rydberg states of neutral atoms are strongly polarisable and possess long lifetimes because of high energies which can lead to strong and long range dipole-dipole interactions.The energy levels corresponding to these states are shifted because of dipole-dipole interactions and can be used to block transitions of more than one excitation in the Rydberg regime.This reputed Rydberg blockade is obtained when the excitation is shifted out of resonance by these interactions.Electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT)is sensitive to a small detuning.At large distances,up to several micrometers,the interactions can interrupt the EIT consequence.Herein we investigate a novel scheme based on EIT and Rydberg blockade and performed a simulation of a controlled-NOT(C-NOT)quantum gate which is critical for quantum computation by using neutral atoms.     

Electron collisions with laser cooled and trapped metastable helium atoms: total scattering cross sections

Absolute measurements of total scattering cross sections for low energy (5-70 eV) electrons by metastable helium (2(3)S) atoms are presented. The measurements are performed using a magneto-optical trap which is loaded from a laser-cooled, bright beam of slow He(2(3)S) atoms. The data are compared with predictions from convergent close coupling and R matrix with pseudostate calculations, and we find good agreement between experiment and theory.