Zeeman slowers made simple with permanent magnets in a Halbach configuration

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple, power-free Zeeman slower design using permanent magnets in a Halbach configuration, enabling efficient production of cold rubidium atoms for quantum gas experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Zeeman slower setup with permanent magnets that is easy to assemble, requires no power or water cooling, and produces high flux of cold atoms.

Findings

Produces 1-5 x 10^10 atoms/sec at 30 m/s

Loads over 10^10 atoms into a magneto-optical trap in one second

No adjustment needed for the magnetic field due to Halbach configuration

Abstract

We describe a simple Zeeman slower design using permanent magnets. Contrary to common wire-wound setups no electric power and water cooling are required. In addition, the whole system can be assembled and disassembled at will. The magnetic field is however transverse to the atomic motion and an extra repumper laser is necessary. A Halbach configuration of the magnets produces a high quality magnetic field and no further adjustment is needed. After optimization of the laser parameters, the apparatus produces an intense beam of slow and cold 87Rb atoms. With a typical flux of 1 - 5 \times 10^10 atoms/s at 30 ms^-1, our apparatus efficiently loads a large magneto-optical trap with more than 10^10 atoms in one second, which is an ideal starting point for degenerate quantum gases experiments.