Stuttgart 2012 – wissenschaftliches Programm

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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 17: Kalte Atome: Fallen und Kühlung

Q 17.10: Vortrag

Montag, 12. März 2012, 18:45–19:00, V7.02

Zeeman slower with permanent magnets — •Stefan Vogt, Stephan Falke, Uwe Sterr, and Christian Lisdat — Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Bundesallee 100, 38116 Braunschweig

A Zeeman slower offers a high flux of cold atoms and thus is a useful tool for many experimental setups. Especially for experiments that require atom trapping with a high repetition rate, such as neutral atom clocks, a Zeeman slower is the best choice. However, the high power consumption caused by the field coils of a typical slower design is a drawback in terms of thermal management and transportability.

Not only transportable setups for clock comparisons between laboratories but also the operation of optical clocks in space [1] call for compact setups with low power consumption, e.g., by using permanent magnets instead of field coils [2,3]. In our approach, we use a pattern of standard-size NdFeB magnet blocks to create a field identical to that of the Zeeman slower of our stationary strontium lattice clock.

By allowing both radial displacement and angular tilt of the blocks, we achieve a magnetic field that is oriented parallel to the atomic beam throughout the slower. The tilt reduces the magnetic field behind the slower.

The work is supported by the Centre for Quantum Engineering and Space-Time Research (QUEST) and the EU through the Space Optical Clocks (SOC2) project.

[1] S. Schiller et al., Exp. Astron. 23, 573 (2009).

[2] Y. Ovchinikov, Optics Communications 276, 261 (2007).

[3] P. Cheiney et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 063115 (2011).