Magneto-optical trapping and background-free imaging for atoms near nanostructured surfaces

TL;DR

This paper presents a magneto-optical trapping and imaging system capable of trapping and imaging cold atoms near nanostructured surfaces with high signal quality, enabling advanced studies of atom-surface interactions.

Contribution

The work introduces a combined magneto-optical trap and imaging setup that functions effectively near scattering surfaces and includes a simple atom cloud launching method.

Findings

Successfully trapped atoms close to scattering surfaces

Achieved high signal-to-noise ratio in imaging

Demonstrated a simple atom cloud launching technique

Abstract

We demonstrate a combined magneto-optical trap and imaging system that is suitable for the investigation of cold atoms near surfaces. In particular, we are able to trap atoms close to optically scattering surfaces and to image them with an excellent signal-to-noise ratio. We also demonstrate a simple magneto-optical atom cloud launching method. We anticipate that this system will be useful for a range of experimental studies of novel atom-surface interactions and atom trap miniaturization.