A High-Flux Source of Cold Strontium with a Loading Rate of $4 \times 10^{10}$ atoms/s for Open Release

TL;DR

This paper introduces a high-flux cold strontium atom source using a 2D MOT and Zeeman slower, achieving the highest reported loading rate for strontium, suitable for advanced quantum experiments.

Contribution

The authors develop and characterize a high-flux cold strontium source with a record loading rate, providing a design openly accessible for quantum research applications.

Findings

Achieved a loading rate of 4×10^{10} atoms/sec for strontium.

Demonstrated vacuum lifetime between 8 and 24 seconds in magnetic traps.

Validated flux and velocity distributions with molecular flow models.

Abstract

We present a high-flux source of cold strontium atoms based on a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) and a Zeeman slower. We use the source to load a 3D MOT in a separate science chamber, observing a loading rate of $4 \times 10^{10}$ atoms/s -- to our knowledge, the highest reported loading flux for strontium. To characterise the vacuum pressure in the science chamber, we load the atoms into a magnetic trap and measure a lifetime of between 8 and 24 seconds, depending on oven temperature. Finally, we characterise the atom flux and velocity distributions from the oven and from the 2D MOT source, finding reasonable agreement with models in the free molecular flow regime. Our results show it is possible to readily produce a cold strontium flux at comparable levels to alkali species, at oven temperatures compatible with long-term operation, and at vacuum pressures suitable for state-of-the-art quantum experiments. We make our design available at no cost, to benefit researchers in the quantum community.