A transverse Zeeman slower composed of an array of compact discrete neodymium magnets is considered. A simple and precise model of such a slower based on magnetic dipoles is developed. The theory of a general Zeeman slower is modified to include spatial nonuniformity of the slowing laser beam intensity due to its convergence and absorption by slowed atoms. The slower needs no high currents or water cooling and the spatial distribution of its magnetic field can be adjusted. In addition the slower provides a possibility to cool the slowed atoms transversally along the whole length of the slower. Such a slower would be ideal for transportable optical atomic clocks and their future applications in space physics.
We report on an investigation of a method that applies simultaneously two different mathematical models in order to optimize the design of a Zeeman Slower towards the implementation of ultra cold atoms in solid state physics. We introduce the implementation of a finite element simulation that allows us to predict with great accuracy the magnetic field intensity profile generated by the proposed design. Through the prediction of the behavior of the Zeeman Slower a greater control is acquired, which allows the optimization of the different experimental variables. We applied the method in the des…
We describe the design, construction and operation of a versatile dual-species Zeeman slower for both Cs and Yb, which is easily adaptable for use with other alkali metals and alkaline earths. With the aid of analytic models and numerical simulation of decelerator action, we highlight several real-world problems affecting the performance of a slower and discuss effective solutions. To capture Yb into a magneto-optical trap (MOT), we use the broad $^1S_0$ to $^1P_1$ transition at 399 nm for the slower and the narrow $^1S_0$ to $^3P_1$ intercombination line at 556 nm for the MOT. The Cs MOT and …
We proposed a general Zeeman slower scheme applicable to the majority of the laser-coolable molecules. Different from previous schemes, the key idea of our scheme lies in that the compensation of the detuning with the magnetic field is done for the repumping laser instead of the cooling laser. Only atoms or molecules with the right velocity will be repumped and laser slowed. Such scheme is more feasible for molecules with complex energy sturcutres. We apply this scheme for molecules with large Landé g-factor of the excited states and polyatomic molecules, and it shows a better slowing efficien…
Zeeman Slowers for Strontium based on Permanent Magnets
我们提出的设计，构造和表征的纵向和横向场塞曼慢，基于阵列的永磁体，用于减缓原子Sr的热束。慢优化与减速相关的本地激光强度（由参数$ε$），更有效地使用可用的激光功率，在通常的恒定减速模式的操作。实现了高达$\approx$ $18$ $%$的减速效率，并与通过建模预测的减速效率进行了比较。我们强调的横向场慢，这是紧凑的，高度可调，重量轻，不需要电力，作为一个简单的解决方案，以减缓锶，非常适合于星载应用。对于$^{88}$ Sr，我们实现了大约$6\times 10^9$原子$\,$ s $^{-1}$在$30$ ms $^{-1}$的慢原子通量，将大约$5\times 10^8$原子加载到磁光阱（MOT）中，并以近似的相对自然丰度捕获所有同位素。
We present a novel slowing scheme for beams of laser-coolable diatomic molecules reminiscent of Zeeman slowing of atomic beams. The scheme results in efficient compression of the 1-dimensional velocity distribution to velocities trappable by magnetic or magneto-optical traps. 3D Monte Carlo simulations for the prototype molecule $^{88}\mathrm{Sr}^{19}\mathrm{F}$ and experiments in an atomic testbed demonstrate a performance comparable to traditional atomic Zeeman slowing and an enhancement of flux below v=35 m/s by a factor of $\approx 20$ compared to white-light slowing. This is the first exp…
We present a thorough analysis of a Zeeman slower for sodium atoms made of permanent magnets in a Halbach configuration. Due to the orientation of the magnetic field, the polarisation of the slowing laser beam cannot be purely circular leading to optical leakages into dark states. To circumvent this effect, we propose an atomic state preparation stage able to significantly increase the performances of the Zeeman slower. After a careful theoretical analysis of the problem, we experimentally implement an optical pumping stage leading to an increase of the magneto-optical trap loading rate by 3.5…
A Compact Dual-Beam Zeeman Slower for High-Flux Cold Atoms
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)（香港科技大学（广州））；Southern University of Science and Technology（南方科技大学）；International Shenzhen Quantum Academy（深圳国际量子研究院）；Quantum Science Center of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area（粤港澳大湾区量子科学中心）
We demonstrate a compact (0.25 L) system for laser cooling and trapping atoms from a heated dispenser source. Our system uses a nanofabricated diffraction grating to generate a magneto-optical trap (MOT) using a single input laser beam. An aperture in the grating allows atoms from the dispenser to be loaded from behind the chip, increasing the interaction distance of atoms with the cooling light. To take full advantage of this increased distance, we extend the magnetic field gradient of the MOT to create a Zeeman slower. The MOT traps approximately $10^6$ $^7$Li atoms emitted from an effusive …
We describe an experimental setup for producing a large cold erbium (Er) sample in a narrow-line magneto-optical trap (MOT) in a simple and efficient way. We implement a pair of angled slowing beams with respect to the Zeeman slower axis, and further slow down atoms exiting from the Zeeman slower. The second-stage slowing beams enable the narrow-line MOT to trap atoms exiting from the Zeeman slower with higher velocity. This scheme is particularly useful when the Zeeman slower is at low optical power without the conventional transverse cooling between an oven and a Zeeman slower, in which case…
We report the theoretical investigation of the suppression of magnetic systematic effects in HfF$^+$ cation for the experiment to search for the electron electric dipole moment. The g-factors for $J = 1$, $F=3/2$, $|M_F|=3/2$ hyperfine levels of the $^3Δ_1$ state are calculated as functions of the external electric field. The lowest value for the difference between the g-factors of $Ω$-doublet levels, $Δg = 3 \times 10^{-6}$, is attained at the electric field 7 V/cm. The body-fixed g-factor, $G_{\parallel}$, was obtained both within the electronic structure calculations and with our fit of the…
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 h…
Multistage Zeeman deceleration is a technique used to reduce the velocity of neutral molecules with a magnetic dipole moment. Here we present a Zeeman decelerator that consists of 100 solenoids and 100 magnetic hexapoles, that is based on a short prototype design presented recently [Phys. Rev. A 95, 043415 (2017)]. The decelerator features a modular design with excellent thermal and vacuum properties, and is robustly operated at a 10 Hz repetition rate. This multistage Zeeman decelerator is particularly optimized to produce molecular beams for applications in crossed beam molecular scattering …
A two-dimensional magneto-optical trap of dysprosium atoms as a compact source for efficient loading of a narrow-line three-dimensional magneto-optical trap
In this article we extend the theory of ultra-long-range giant dipole molecules, formed by an atom in a giant dipole state and a ground-state alkali atom, by angular-momentum couplings known from recent works on Rydberg molecules. In addition to $s$-wave scattering, the next higher order of $p$-wave scattering in the Fermi-pseudopotential describing the binding mechanism is considered. Furthermore, the singlet and triplet channels of the scattering interaction as well as angular-momentum couplings such as hyperfine interaction and Zeeman interactions are included. Within the framework of Born-…
We report on building of a compact vacuum chamber for spectroscopy of ultracold thulium and trapping of up to 13 million atoms. Compactness is achieved by obviating a classical Zeeman slower section and placing an atomic oven close to a magneto-optical trap (MOT), specifically at the distance of 11 cm. In this configuration, we significantly gained in solid angle of an atomic beam, which is affected by MOT laser beams, and reached 1 million atoms loaded directly in the MOT. By exploiting Zeeman-like deceleration of atoms with an additional laser beam, we increased the number of trapped atoms t…
We realize an experimental facility for cooling and trapping strontium (Sr) atoms and measure the Landé g factor of $^{3}$D$_{1}$ of $^{88}$Sr. Thanks to a novel repumping scheme with the $^{3}$P$_{2}$$\rightarrow$$^{3}$S$_{1}$ and $^{3}$P$_{0}$$\rightarrow$$^{3}$D$_{1}$ combination and the permanent magnets based self-assembled Zeeman slower, the peak atom number in the continuously repumped blue MOT is enhanced by a factor of 15 with respect to the non-repumping case, and reaches $\sim$1 billion. Furthermore, using the resolved-sideband Zeeman spectroscopy, the Landé g factor of $^{3}$D$_{1}…
Transversely loaded bidimensional-magneto-optical-traps (2D-MOT) have been recently developed as high flux sources for cold strontium atoms to realize a new generation of compact experimental setups. Here, we discuss on the implementation of a cross-polarized bi-color slower for a strontium atomic beam improving the 2D-MOT loading, and increasing the number of atoms in a final MOT by eleven times. Our slowing scheme addresses simultaneously two excited Zeeman substates of the 88Sr 1S0->1P1 transition at 461 nm. We also realized a 3-axis active feedback control of the magnetic field down to the…
Proposed search for an electric-dipole moment using laser-cooled $^{171}$Yb atoms
我们提出了一个实验，寻找一个永久的原子电偶极矩（EDM）使用激光冷却的$^{171}$ Yb原子发射在原子喷泉。用均匀B场作为量子化轴，用Ramsey分离振荡场方法测量原子的塞曼旋进频率。适当偏振的激光束用于在给定的磁性子级中进行制备和检测。EDM的签名是与大E场的应用相关的拉姆齐共振的偏移。精度预计将至少比目前的限制好20倍，因为冷原子束的使用允许应用比蒸汽室大10倍的E场，并且与E场的相互作用时间比热束大200倍。电子束实验中系统误差的主要来源，（E x v/c）运动磁场，由于通过E场区域的上下轨迹之间的速度几乎完全反转而大大减少。
We measure the hyperfine structure of $nP_{1/2}$ Rydberg states using mm-wave spectroscopy on an ensemble of laser-cooled $^{85}$Rb atoms. Systematic uncertainties in our measurement from the Zeeman splittings induced by stray magnetic fields and dipole-dipole interactions between two Rydberg atoms are factored in with the obtained statistical uncertainty. Our final measurement of the $nP_{1/2}$ hyperfine coupling constant is $A_{\text{hfs}}=1.443(31)$~GHz. This measurement is useful for studies of long-range Rydberg molecules, Rydberg electrometry, and quantum simulation with dipole-dipole in…
Doubly polar molecules, possessing an electric dipole moment and a magnetic dipole moment, can strongly couple to both an external electric field and a magnetic field, providing unique opportunities to exert full control of the system quantum state at ultracold temperatures. We propose a method for creating a purely long-range doubly polar homonuclear molecule from a pair of strongly magnetic lanthanide atoms, one atom being in its ground level and the other in a superposition of quasi-degenerate opposite-parity excited levels [Phys.~Rev.~Lett.~\textbf{121}, 063201 (2018)]. The electric dipole…
Dipole-dipole interactions lead to frequency shifts that are expected to limit the performance of next-generation atomic clocks. In this work, we compute dipolar frequency shifts accounting for the intrinsic atomic multilevel structure in standard Ramsey spectroscopy. When interrogating the transitions featuring the smallest Clebsch-Gordan coefficients, we find that a simplified two-level treatment becomes inappropriate, even in the presence of large Zeeman shifts. For these cases, we show a net suppression of dipolar frequency shifts and the emergence of dominant non-classical effects for exp…
Recent advances in quantum technologies have enabled the precise control of single trapped molecules on the quantum level. Exploring the scope of these new technologies, we studied theoretically the implementation of qubits and clock transitions in the spin, rotational, and vibrational degrees of freedom of molecular nitrogen ions including the effects of magnetic fields. The relevant spectroscopic transitions span six orders of magnitude in frequency illustrating the versatility of the molecular spectrum for encoding quantum information. We identified two types of magnetically insensitive qub…
We present a theoretical investigation of coherent dynamics of a spin qubit encoded in hyperfine sublevels of an alkali-metal atom in a far off-resonant optical dipole trap. The qubit is prepared in the "clock transition" utilizing the Zeeman states with zero projection of the spin angular momentum. We focus on various dephasing processes such as the residual motion of the atom, fluctuations of the trapping field and its incoherent scattering and their effects on the qubit dynamics. We implement the most general fully-quantum treatment of the atomic motion, so our results remain valid in the l…
Magneto-optical traps (MOTs) based on the $626\;{\rm nm}$, $136\;{\rm kHz}$-wide intercombination line of Dy, which has an attractively low Doppler temperature of $3.3\;μ{\rm K}$, have been implemented in a growing number of experiments over the last several years. A challenge in loading these MOTs comes from their low capture velocities. Slowed atomic beams can spread out significantly during free-flight from the Zeeman slower to the MOT position, reducing the fraction of the beam captured by the MOT. Here we apply, for the first time in a Dy experiment, a scheme for enhancing the loading rat…
The magnetic force is retained in the Lorentz Oscillator Model and a perturbation solution is derived beyond the dipole approximation. Perturbation series for the electric dipole, magnetic dipole, and electric quadrupole moments in addition to their macroscopic, spatially-averaged counterparts are also obtained. These expressions are shown to describe many optical phenomena: the normal, linear Zeeman, Faraday, and magneto-optic Kerr effects, the linear Stark, Pockels, and Kerr effects (when the restoring force is anharmonic), the momentum and angular momentum of a photon in matter (contributin…
Magneto-electrostatic trapping of ground state OH molecules
我们报道了在密度为$\sim3\times10^{3}$ cm $^{-3}$和温度为$\sim$ 30 mK的中性、基态羟基自由基（OH）的磁约束。一个可调节的电场的大小足以抑制OH是叠加在陷阱中的四极或均匀场的几何形状。OH被限制在一个整体的潜力，建立通过分子状态混合诱导的组合电场和磁场作用于分子的电偶极子和磁偶极矩，分别。构造了一个包含斯塔克项和塞曼项的有效分子哈密顿量来描述阱内的单分子动力学。使用该哈密顿量的蒙特卡罗模拟精确地模拟了在各种陷阱配置中观察到的陷阱动力学。将冷极性分子限制在磁阱中，留下大的、可调节的电场进行控制，是研究低能偶极-偶极碰撞的重要一步。
Based on the multi-level model, we have calculated light shifts for Zeeman states of hyperfine levels of cesium (Cs) 6S1/2 ground state and 6P3/2 excited state.The magic-wavelength linearly-polarized optical dipole trap (ODT) for Cs 6S1/2 F=4, mF=+4 - 6P3/2 F'=5, mF=+5 transition is experimentally constructed and characterized by using the laser-induced fluorescence spectra of trapped single Cs atoms. The magic wavelength is 937.7 nm which produces almost the same light shift for 6S1/2 F=4, mF=+4 ground state and 6P3/2 F'=5, mF=+5 excited state with linearly-polarized ODT laser beam. Compared …
We use D1 gray molasses to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation of a large number of $^{41}$K atoms in an optical dipole trap. By combining a new configuration of compressed-MOT with D1 gray molasses, we obtain a cold sample of $2.4\times10^9$ atoms with a temperature as low as 42 $μ$K. After magnetically transferring the atoms into the final glass cell, we perform a two-stage evaporative cooling. A condensate with up to $1.2\times10^6$ atoms in the lowest Zeeman state $|F=1,m_F=1\rangle$ is achieved in the optical dipole trap. Furthermore, we observe two narrow Feshbach resonances in the lowest…
We study the emergence of a collective optical response of a cold and dense $^{87}$Rb atomic cloud to a near-resonant low-intensity light when the atom number is gradually increased. Experimental observations are compared with microscopic stochastic simulations of recurrent scattering processes between the atoms that incorporate the atomic multilevel structure and the optical measurement setup. We analyze the optical response of an inhomogeneously-broadened gas and find that the experimental observations of the resonance line shifts and the total collected scattered light intensity in cold ato…
