Magneto-optical trap for thulium atoms

Journal Article · Thu Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.82.011405· OSTI ID:21440445

Sukachev, D; Sokolov, A; Chebakov, K; Akimov, A; Kanorsky, S; Kolachevsky, N; Sorokin, V ^[1]

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1. P.N. Lebedev Physical Institute, Leninsky Prospekt 53, 119991 Moscow (Russian Federation)

Thulium atoms are trapped in a magneto-optical trap using a strong transition at 410 nm with a small branching ratio. We trap up to 7x10{sup 4} atoms at a temperature of 0.8(2) mK after deceleration in a 40-cm-long Zeeman slower. Optical leaks from the cooling cycle influence the lifetime of atoms in the magneto-optical trap which varies between 0.3 and 1.5 s in our experiments. The lower limit for the leaking rate from the upper cooling level is measured to be 22(6) s{sup -1}. The repumping laser transferring the atomic population out of the F=3 hyperfine ground-state sublevel gives a 30% increase for the lifetime and the number of atoms in the trap.

• OSTI ID: 21440445
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 82, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.82.011405; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ACCELERATION
ATOMS
BRANCHING RATIO
COOLING
GROUND STATES
HYPERFINE STRUCTURE
LASER RADIATION
LIFETIME
MAGNETO-OPTICAL EFFECTS
PHOTON-ATOM COLLISIONS
THULIUM
TRAPS
ZEEMAN EFFECT
ATOM COLLISIONS
COLLISIONS
DIMENSIONLESS NUMBERS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
METALS
PHOTON COLLISIONS
RADIATIONS
RARE EARTHS