Novel, Retroreflective, Magneto-Optical Trap Near a Surface

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new magneto-optical trap design using retroreflection to create a dense rubidium atom cloud near a surface without optical access along one axis, enabling efficient transfer to a surface trap.

Contribution

The paper presents a novel MOT geometry with retroreflection near a surface, facilitating atom trapping close to surfaces with minimal optical access, and demonstrates transfer to a GOST.

Findings

Achieved a MOT with ~4×10^7 Rb-85 atoms 700 μm from a surface.

Demonstrated proximity of the MOT to the evanescent GOST minimum.

Potential for minimal atom loss during transfer to surface traps.

Abstract

We report on a novel Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT) geometry involving the retroreflection of one of the six MOT beams in order to create an atom cloud close to the surface of a prism which does not have optical access along one axis. A MOT of Rb$^{85}$ with $\sim 4 \times 10^7$ atoms can be created 700 um from the surface. The MOT lies close to the minimum of an evanescent Gravito-Optical Surface Trap (GOST) allowing for transfer into the GOST with potentially minimal losses.