A source of cold atoms for a continuously loaded magnetic guide

TL;DR

This paper describes a novel setup for generating a continuous, cold, and slow beam of rubidium-87 atoms suitable for magnetic guiding, using a two-stage magneto-optical trap system.

Contribution

It introduces a new continuous atomic source with high flux and controlled velocity, optimized for loading into magnetic guides, using a two-stage magneto-optical trapping approach.

Findings

Achieved atomic beam flux over 10^10 atoms/sec

Produced a mean atomic velocity of 40 m/s

Demonstrated effective recapture and cooling in the second trap

Abstract

We present an intense source of $^{87}$Rb atoms that has been set up to produce a continuous, slow and cold beam in a magnetic guide. It consists of a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap whose cooling laser power is provided by a master-oscillator tapered-amplifier system. This trap produces an atomic beam with a flux of over $10^{10}$ atoms/s and a mean velocity of 40 m/s. The beam is recaptured by a second trap whose purpose consists in reducing the beam's velocity, in further cooling the atoms and injecting them into the magnetic guide. The article focusses on the first stage of the process described above.