A deep optical cavity trap for atoms and molecules with rapid frequency and intensity modulation

P D Edmunds; P F Barker

doi:10.1063/1.4817311

A deep optical cavity trap for atoms and molecules with rapid frequency and intensity modulation

Rev Sci Instrum. 2013 Aug;84(8):083101. doi: 10.1063/1.4817311.

Authors

P D Edmunds¹, P F Barker

Affiliation

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom.

PMID: 24007047
DOI: 10.1063/1.4817311

Abstract

We describe a deep far-off resonance trap for metastable argon atoms utilizing a medium finesse cavity and a high input power (30 W) to produce trap depths of up to 11 mK. The depth can be rapidly modulated allowing efficient loading of the trap, characterization of trapped atom temperature, and reduction of intensity noise. We measure the change in radius of curvature of the mirrors due to heating by the high circulating intensity and show that trapping is not adversely effected by this for all input powers.