Confinement of an alkaline-earth element in a grating magneto-optical trap

Published

October 15, 2020

Author(s)

Ananya Sitaram, Peter Elgee, Gretchen K. Campbell, Daniel Barker, Nikolai Klimov, Stephen Eckel

Abstract

We demonstrate a compact magneto-optical trap (MOT) of alkaline-earth atoms using a nanofabricated diffraction grating chip. A single input laser beam, resonant with the broad 1S0 to 1P1 transition of strontium, forms the MOT in combination with three diffracted beams from the grating chip and a magnetic field produced by permanent magnets. A differential pumping tube limits the effect of the heated, effusive source on the background pressure in the trapping region. The system has a total volume of around 2.4 L. With our setup, we have trapped up to 5 x 10^6 88Sr atoms, at a temperature of approximately 6 mK, and with a trap lifetime of approximately 1 s. Our results will aid the effort to miniaturize optical atomic clocks and other quantum technologies based on alkaline-earth atoms.

Citation

Physical Review Applied

Pub Type

Journals

Keywords

Laser Cooling, ultracold atoms, atomic clocks

Citation

Sitaram, A. , Elgee, P. , Campbell, G. , Barker, D. , Klimov, N. and Eckel, S. (2020), Confinement of an alkaline-earth element in a grating magneto-optical trap, Physical Review Applied (Accessed October 14, 2025)