Fast nondestructive temperature measurement of two-electron atoms in a magneto-optical trap

Journal Article · Tue Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.81.063416· OSTI ID:21437925

Cristiani, Matteo; Valenzuela, Tristan; Gothe, Hannes; Eschner, Juergen ^[1]

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1. ICFO-Institut de Ciencies Fotoniques, Mediterranean Technology Park, E-08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona) (Spain)

We extend the technique originally proposed by [Honda et al., Phys. Rev. A 59, R934 (1999)] to measure the temperature of ytterbium and alkaline-earth-metal atoms confined in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). The method is based on the analysis of excitation spectra obtained by probing the {sup 1}S{sub 0}{yields}{sup 3}P{sub 1} intercombination line. Thanks to a careful analysis and modeling of the effects caused by the MOT light on the probe transition we overcome the resolution and precision limits encountered in previous works. Ground-state light shift and Rabi broadening are measured and successfully compared with calculated values. This knowledge allows us to properly extract the Doppler contribution to the linewidth, thus obtaining a reliable measurement of the cloud temperature. We finally show how spectroscopy on free-falling atoms provides an alternative method to determine the sample temperature which resembles the standard time-of-flight technique.

• OSTI ID: 21437925
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 6; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.063416; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ABSORPTION SPECTRA
ABSORPTION SPECTROSCOPY
ALKALINE EARTH METALS
ATOMS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ELECTRONS
EXCITATION
RESOLUTION
TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
TRAPS
VISIBLE RADIATION
YTTERBIUM
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
ENERGY-LEVEL TRANSITIONS
FERMIONS
LEPTONS
METALS
RADIATIONS
RARE EARTHS
SIMULATION
SPECTRA
SPECTROSCOPY