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Title: Magneto-optical trapping of cadmium

Journal Article · · Physical Review. A
; ;  [1]; ; ;  [1];  [2];  [3]
  1. FOCUS Center and Department of Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 (United States)
  2. Physics Department, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia V5A 1S6 (Canada)
  3. Instituto de Fisica e Quimica de Sao Carlos, Caixa Postal 369, 13560 Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo (Brazil)

We report the laser cooling and confinement of Cd atoms in a magneto-optical trap and characterize the loading process from the background Cd vapor. The trapping laser drives the {sup 1}S{sub 0}{yields}{sup 1}P{sub 1} transition at 229 nm in this two-electron atom and also photoionizes atoms directly from the {sup 1}P{sub 1} state. This photoionization overwhelms the other loss mechanisms and allows a direct measurement of the photoionization cross section, which we measure to be 2(1)x10{sup -16} cm{sup 2} from the {sup 1}P{sub 1} state. When combined with nearby laser-cooled and trapped Cd{sup +} ions, this apparatus could facilitate studies in ultracold interactions between atoms and ions.

OSTI ID:
21020754
Journal Information:
Physical Review. A, Vol. 76, Issue 4; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.76.043411; (c) 2007 The American Physical Society; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English