Light-induced atomic desorption for loading a sodium magneto-optical trap

Journal Article · Mon Mar 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.81.032710· OSTI ID:21408435

Telles, Gustavo; Ishikawa, Tetsuya; Gibbs, Matthew; Raman, Chandra ^[1]

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1. School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332 (United States)

We report studies of photon-stimulated desorption, also known as light-induced atomic desorption, of sodium atoms from a vacuum-cell glass surface used for loading a magneto-optical trap (MOT). Fluorescence detection was used to record the trapped atom number and the desorption rate. We observed a steep wavelength dependence of the desorption process above 2.6 eV photon energy, a result significant for estimations of sodium vapor density in the lunar atmosphere. Our data fit well to a simple model for the loading of the MOT dependent only on the sodium desorption rate and residual gas density. Up to 3.7x10{sup 7} Na atoms were confined under ultrahigh-vacuum conditions, creating promising loading conditions for a vapor-cell-based atomic Bose-Einstein condensate of sodium.

• OSTI ID: 21408435
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 3; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.032710; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
DENSITY
DESORPTION
DETECTION
EV RANGE 01-10
FLUORESCENCE
FREQUENCY DEPENDENCE
LUNAR ATMOSPHERE
PHOTONS
SODIUM
TRAPS
VAPORS
ALKALI METALS
ATMOSPHERES
BOSONS
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EMISSION
ENERGY RANGE
EV RANGE
FLUIDS
GASES
LUMINESCENCE
MASSLESS PARTICLES
METALS
PHOTON EMISSION
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
SATELLITE ATMOSPHERES
SORPTION