Continuous beam of laser-cooled Yb atoms

TL;DR

This paper reports the successful creation of a continuous beam of laser-cooled ytterbium atoms, achieved through a sequence of Zeeman slowing, 2D-MOT trapping, and continuous launching with moving molasses beams, offering advantages over pulsed atomic fountains.

Contribution

First demonstration of a continuous cold atomic beam of Yb atoms using a novel launching method with moving molasses beams.

Findings

Captured about 7 million atoms in the 2D-MOT.

Launched atoms at 13 m/s with a temperature of 125(6) mK.

Demonstrated continuous operation as an alternative to pulsed fountains.

Abstract

We demonstrate launching of laser-cooled Yb atoms in a continuous atomic beam. The continuous cold beam has significant advantages over the more-common pulsed fountain, which was also demonstrated by us recently. The cold beam is formed in the following steps---(i) Atoms from a thermal beam are first Zeeman slowed to a small final velocity, (ii) the slowed atoms are captured in a two-dimensional magneto-optic trap (2D-MOT), and (iii) atoms are launched {\em continuously} in the vertical direction using two sets of moving-molasses beams, inclined at $\pm 15^\circ$ to the vertical. The cooling transition used is the strongly-allowed ${^1S}_0 \rightarrow {^1P}_1$ transition at 399 nm. We capture about $7 \times 10^6$ atoms in the 2D-MOT, and then launch them with a vertical velocity of 13 m/s at a longitudinal temperature of 125(6) mK.