Magneto-optical trapping using planar optics

Published

January 29, 2021

Author(s)

William McGehee, Wenqi Zhu, Daniel Barker, Daron Westly, Alexander Yulaev, Nikolai Klimov, Amit Agrawal, Stephen Eckel, Vladimir Aksyuk, Jabez McClelland

Abstract

Laser-cooled atoms are a key component of many calibration-free measurement platforms— including clocks, gyroscopes, and gravimeters—and are a promising technology for quantum networking and quantum computing. The optics and vacuum hardware required to prepare these gases are often bulky and not amenable to large-volume manufacturing, limiting the practical realization of devices benefiting from the properties of cold atoms. Planar, lithographically produced optics including photonic integrated circuits, optical metasurfaces, and gratings offer a pathway to develop chip-scale, manufacturable devices utilizing cold atoms. As a demonstration of this technology, we have realized laser cooling of atomic Rb in a grating-type magneto-optical trap using planar optics for beam launching, beam shaping, and polarization control. Efficient use of light is accomplished using a flat-top laser beam to illuminate a grating chip. The performance of the planar optics MOT is competitive with conventional grating MOTs.

Citation

New Journal of Physics

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/abdce3

Local Download

Keywords

planar optics, laser cooling, photonic integration

Citation

McGehee, W. , Zhu, W. , Barker, D. , Westly, D. , Yulaev, A. , Klimov, N. , Agrawal, A. , Eckel, S. , Aksyuk, V. and McClelland, J. (2021), Magneto-optical trapping using planar optics, New Journal of Physics, [online], https://doi.org/10.1088/1367-2630/abdce3, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=931356 (Accessed November 22, 2025)