https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530170171
An atom faucet
Laboratoire Kastler Brossel (Unité de Recherche de l'École normale supérieure et de l'université Pierre et Marie Curie, associée au CNRS.
) , Département de Physique de l'École Normale Supérieure,
24 rue Lhomond, 75005 Paris, France
Corresponding author: a jean.dalibard@lkb.ens.fr
Received:
13
January
2001
Published online: 15 August 2001
We present a simple and efficient source of slow
atoms. From a background vapour loaded magneto-optical trap (MOT), a thin
laser beam extracts a continuous jet of cold rubidium atoms. The jet
that is typical to leaking MOT systems is
created without any optical parts placed inside the vacuum
chamber. We also present a simple three dimensional numerical
simulation of the atomic motion in the presence of these multiple saturating
laser fields combined with the inhomogeneous magnetic field of the MOT. At a
pressure of 
mbar and with a moderate laser
power of 10 mW per beam,
we generate a flux 
atoms/s
with a mean velocity of 14 m/s and a divergence of 10 mrad.
PACS: 32.80.Lg – Mechanical effects of light on atoms, molecules, and ions / 32.80.Pj – Optical cooling of atoms; trapping
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2001
