Manipulating cold atoms through a high-resolution compact system based on a multimode fiber

TL;DR

This paper presents a compact, high-resolution lensless optical system using a multimode fiber and spatial light modulators to manipulate cold atoms within ultra-high-vacuum environments, enabling precise control in constrained quantum platforms.

Contribution

The work introduces a novel, miniaturized optical system that achieves high-resolution manipulation of cold atoms using a multimode fiber and digital phase conjugation, suitable for space-limited quantum setups.

Findings

Successfully transported cold atoms using the system

Loaded atoms into optical microtraps

Re-cooled atoms in optical molasses

Abstract

To manipulate cold atoms in spatially constrained quantum engineering platforms, we developed a lensless optical system with a $\sim$1 $\mu$m resolution and a transverse size of only 225 $\mu$m. We use a multimode optical fiber with a high numerical aperture, which directly guides light inside the ultra-high-vacuum system. Spatial light modulators allow us to generate control beams at the in-vacuum fiber end by digital optical phase conjugation. As a demonstration, we use this system to optically transport cold atoms towards the in-vacuum fiber end, to load them in optical microtraps and to re-cool them in optical molasses. This work opens new perspectives for setups combining cold atoms with other optical, electronic or opto-mechanical systems with limited optical access.