Accession Number:
ADA455526
Title:
CW Atom Laser
Descriptive Note:
Final progress rept. 1 Jul 2002-30 Apr 2006
Corporate Author:
MICHIGAN UNIV ANN ARBOR
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
2006-08-04
Pagination or Media Count:
10.0
Abstract:
A continuous-wave cw, phase- and amplitude-stable atom laser based on magnetic guiding, magnetic compression, and continuous distributed evaporative cooling has been pursued. The continuous operation of a cold atomic beam in a high-gradient up to 2.7kGcm magnetic guide of 1.7m length has been demonstrated. An imaging method has been developed that allows in-situ measurements of atom temperatures and fluxes. The atomic beam in the high-gradient portion of the guide has been found to have a transverse temperature of 420 micro-Kelvin, a longitudinal temperature of 1mK, an average velocity of order 1ms, and a flux of about 3x107 per second. Using a radio-frequency current coupled directly into the guide wires, relatively hot atoms have been continuously and selectively removed from the atomic beam. A Zeeman slower has been constructed that will enable atom fluxes exceeding 109 per second, as required for efficient evaporative atomic-beam cooling. In the project, the foundations have been laid to prepare a cw Bose-Einstein condensate and a coherent cw matter-wave beam in the guide. This matter-wave source will be ideal for atom-interferometric field- and motion sensors, which may become important in future sensing and navigation applications.
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Electricity and Magnetism
- Particle Accelerators
- Lasers and Masers