Chinese Journal of Quantum Electronics

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Sub-Doppler cooling 87Rb atoms using decompressed magneto-optical trap

ZHANG Dongfang1,2,3, GAO Tianyou1,2,3, KONG Lingran1,2,3, LI Kai1, JIANG Kaijun1,2   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Magnetic Resonance and Atomic and Molecular Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China; 2 Center for Cold Atom Physics, Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430071, China; 3 University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Online:2019-06-11

Abstract: 87Rb atoms can be cooled below the Doppler cooling limit by using the decompressed magneto-optical trap (DCMOT) technique. Cold rubidium atoms are trapped in magneto-optical trap (MOT), and the temperature of cold atoms is further lowered by decreasing the magnetic field gradient and repumping light power, increasing the detuning of cooling light. The optimal experimental parameters are obtained by investigating the relationship between atomic density after free flight with the magnetic field gradient, power of repumping light and detuning of cooling light. etween atomic density of time-of-flight (TOF) and each one of the three parameters. The atom temperature is 129 measured with DCMOT, which is lower than Doppler cooling limit temperature of Rubidium 87 atom (144 ). The cold atoms are loaded directly into the magnetic trap with a loading efficiency of 25%.

Key words: magneto-optical trap, Doppler cooling limit, decompressed magneto-optical trap, compressed magneto-optical trap, polarization gradient cooling