Atom trapping in an interferometrically generated bottle beam trap

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel method for trapping cold Cesium atoms using an interferometrically generated optical bottle beam trap created by interfering Gaussian beams with different waists.

Contribution

It introduces a new technique for creating a 3D null intensity region for atom trapping using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer with unequal magnifications.

Findings

Successful trapping of cold Cesium atoms in the bottle beam trap.

Demonstration of destructive interference creating a null intensity region.

Use of a single laser source for beam generation.

Abstract

We demonstrate an optical bottle beam trap created by interfering two fundamental Gaussian beams with different waists. The beams are derived from a single laser source using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer whose arms have unequal magnifications. Destructive interference of the two beams from the Mach-Zehnder leads to a three dimensional intensity null at the mutual focus of the beams. We demonstrate trapping of cold Cesium atoms in a blue detuned bottle beam trap.