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PUBLICATIONS

Magneto-optical trapping using planar optics

Published

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
Physics

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 October 8, 2025)

Issues

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Created January 29, 2021, Updated September 29, 2025
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