Abstract
We realized two species of magneto-optical traps (MOTs) by using linearly-polarized cooling beams. A mirror MOT was realized by using pairs of σ-π polarized cooling beams. Since the linearly-polarized field could act as opposite circular polarizations, atoms could be loaded on the mirror MOT with the elimination of one quarter-wave plate (QWP) among the four QWPs. However, for a typical MOT, counter-propagating cooling beams had to have opposite circular polarizations. The number of trapped atoms depended strongly on the polarization and optical alignment of the cooling beams when linear polarization with the elimination of one QWP was used. By using this anomalous alignment, we could increase the fluorescence of the mirror MOT. Furthermore, we were also able to realize a six-beam MOT with a configuration of pairs of orthogonal linearly-polarized cooling beams. The direction of the polarization depended strongly on the magnetic field for trapping.
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