Two-color grating magneto-optical trap for narrow-line laser cooling

TL;DR

This paper introduces the first two-color grating magneto-optical trap for alkaline-earth atoms, enabling narrow-line laser cooling with a simplified setup suitable for compact quantum devices.

Contribution

It demonstrates the first implementation of a two-color gMOT with strontium atoms, combining different wavelengths in a nanostructured device for efficient cooling and trapping.

Findings

Trapped 10^6 Sr atoms at 461 nm

Transferred 25% of atoms to 689 nm cooling stage

Prepared 2.5×10^5 atoms at 5 μK

Abstract

We demonstrate for the first time the two-color cooling and trapping of alkaline-earth atoms in a grating magneto-optical trap (gMOT). The trap is formed by a single incident laser beam together with four secondary beams that are generated via diffraction from a nanostructured wafer. A grating structure for a gMOT operating with strontium atoms is optimized and fabricated. We trap $10^6$ $^{88}$Sr atoms on the $^1$S$_0$ $\rightarrow$ $^1$P$_1$ transition at $461\;\mathrm{nm}$ and transfer $25\;\%$ of these atoms to the second cooling stage on the narrower $^1$S$_0$ $\rightarrow$ $^3$P$_1$ intercombination transition at $689\;\mathrm{nm}$, preparing a sample of $2.5\times 10^5$ atoms at $5\;\mu$K. These results demonstrate for the first time the applicability of the gMOT technology in conjunction with two widely differing wavelengths and enable the continued miniaturization of alkaline-earth based quantum technologies like optical atomic clocks.