 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Cold Beam Source
Participants:
- John Doyle - PI
- David Patterson - Graduate Student
- Julia Rasmussen - Graduate Student
Project Description:
We have developed and characterized a high-flux beam source for cold (4 Kelvin), slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization with a buffer gas in a cryogenic cell. An atomic or molecular beam is formed by particles exiting through a hole in the buffer gas cell. The source can be used to produce a beam of any atom or molecule for which a solid precursor exists. We have demonstrated the production of high flux beams of both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO), and have used the source to load atomic lithium into a simple magnetic guide.
Our current plans for the source are to explore its utility for loading traps with large numbers of atoms or molecules. One potential application is the production of a beam of atomic ytterbium (Yb), laser cooling of the beam, and then loading intoeither a magneto-optical trap or a magnetic trap by optically pumping the Yb atoms into a paramagnetic metastable. A second potential application is producing a beam of the polar molecule CaF, guiding this beam with an electrostatic guide, and then loading either a macroscopic electrostatic trap, or an array of lithographically defined microtraps close to a surface. The generality of our novel source allows for many other potential applications.
