• Featured in Physics
  • Editors' Suggestion

Intense continuous cold-atom source

William Huntington, Jeremy Glick, Michael Borysow, and Daniel J. Heinzen
Phys. Rev. A 107, 013302 – Published 6 January 2023
Physics logo See synopsis: Cold-Atom Beams without Laser Cooling

Abstract

We demonstrate an intense, continuous cold atomic beam generated via post-nozzle seeding of a supersonic He4 jet with Li7 atoms. The nozzle is cooled to about 4.4 K to reduce the forward velocity of the atoms. The atomic beam is brought to a focus 176 cm from the nozzle by a 10 cm bore diameter magnetic hexapole lens. Absorption and fluorescence imaging of the focus show a flux of 2.3(4)×1012s1, brightness of 1.8(6)×1019m2s1sr1, forward velocity of 211(2) m/s, and longitudinal temperature of 7(3) mK. Results agree with a Monte Carlo simulation of the seeding dynamics and a particle-tracing simulation of the atom lens. We predict that 10 times higher flux would be possible with improved vacuum system design. Our method should provide a useful high-brightness source for atom-optical and other atomic and molecular physics applications.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
8 More
  • Received 23 August 2022
  • Accepted 29 November 2022

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.107.013302

©2023 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & Optical

synopsis

Key Image

Cold-Atom Beams without Laser Cooling

Published 6 January 2023

Researchers demonstrate a way to produce a sub-10-mK beam of lithium atoms without using laser cooling, a result that could allow the exploration of the effects of novel quantum regimes.

See more in Physics

Authors & Affiliations

William Huntington, Jeremy Glick, Michael Borysow, and Daniel J. Heinzen*

  • Department of Physics, The University of Texas, Austin, Texas 78712, USA

  • *Corresponding author: heinzen@physics.utexas.edu

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 107, Iss. 1 — January 2023

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review A

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×