Cold atom confinement in an all-optical dark ring trap
Quantum Physics
2008-02-12 v1
Abstract
We demonstrate confinement of Rb atoms in a dark, toroidal optical trap. We use a spatial light modulator to convert a single blue-detuned Gaussian laser beam to a superposition of Laguerre-Gaussian modes that forms a ring-shaped intensity null bounded harmonically in all directions. We measure a 1/e spin-relaxation lifetime of ~1.5 seconds for a trap detuning of 4.0 nm. For smaller detunings, a time-dependent relaxation rate is observed. We use these relaxation rate measurements and imaging diagnostics to optimize trap alignment in a programmable manner with the modulator. The results are compared with numerical simulations.
Cite
@article{arxiv.0802.1213,
title = {Cold atom confinement in an all-optical dark ring trap},
author = {Spencer E. Olson and Matthew L. Terraciano and Mark Bashkansky and Fredrik K. Fatemi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0802.1213},
year = {2008}
}
Comments
5 pages, 4 figures