Zeeman slowing of a Group III atom

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the first Zeeman slower for a Group III atom, indium, using a metastable transition and permanent magnets, enabling potential ultracold cooling of these elements.

Contribution

It introduces a novel Zeeman slowing technique for Group III atoms, specifically indium, using a metastable transition and permanent magnets, expanding cooling possibilities.

Findings

Achieved slowing of indium atoms to 70 m/s

Demonstrated a transverse-field permanent magnet Zeeman slower

Potential extension to other Group III elements

Abstract

We realize the first Zeeman slower of an atom in the Main Group III of the periodic table, otherwise known as the "triel elements". Despite that our atom of choice (namely indium) does not have a ground state cycling transition suitable for laser cooling, slowing is achieved by driving the transition $\lvert 5P_{3/2},F=6 \rangle \rightarrow \lvert 5D_{5/2},F=7 \rangle$, where the lower-energy state is metastable. Using a slower based on permanent magnets in a transverse-field configuration, we observe a bright slowed atomic beam at our design goal velocity of 70 m/s. The techniques presented here can straightforwardly extend to other triel atoms such as thallium, aluminum, and gallium. Furthermore, this work opens the possibility of cooling Group III atoms to ultracold temperatures.