Low-Velocity Intense Source of Atoms from a Magneto-optical Trap

Journal Article · Tue Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1996 · Physical Review Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.77.3331· OSTI ID:388386

Lu, Z T; Corwin, K L; Renn, M J; Anderson, M H; Cornell, E A; Wieman, C E ^[1]

---

1. Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309 (United States)

We have produced and characterized an intense, slow, and highly collimated atomic beam extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT).The technique used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6mm diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of 5{times}10{sup 9}/s and a pulsed flux 10times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70{percent} of the atoms trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}

• OSTI ID: 388386
• Journal Information: Physical Review Letters, Journal Name: Physical Review Letters Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 77; ISSN 0031-9007; ISSN PRLTAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

66 PHYSICS
ATOMIC BEAMS
ATOMS
FLUORESCENCE
MAGNETO-OPTICAL EFFECTS
RUBIDIUM
TIME-OF-FLIGHT METHOD
TRAPS
VELOCITY