Intense source of cold cesium atoms based on a two-dimensional magneto–optical trap with independent axial cooling and pushing**Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 11304177).

Abstract

We report our studies on an intense source of cold cesium atoms based on a two-dimensional (2D) magneto–optical trap (MOT) with independent axial cooling and pushing. The new-designed source, proposed as 2D-HP MOT, uses hollow laser beams for axial cooling and a thin pushing laser beam to extract a cold atomic beam. With the independent pushing beam, the atomic flux can be substantially optimized. The total atomic flux maximum obtained in the 2D-HP MOT is 4.02 × 1010 atoms/s, increased by 60 percent compared to the traditional 2D+ MOT in our experiment. Moreover, with the pushing power 10 μW and detuning 0Γ, the 2D-HP MOT can generate a rather intense atomic beam with the concomitant light shift suppressed by a factor of 20. The axial velocity distribution of the cold cesium beams centers at 6.8 m/s with an FMHW of about 2.8 m/s. The dependences of the atomic flux on the pushing power and detuning are studied in detail. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical model.