High-Flux Beam Source for Cold, Slow Atoms or Molecules
- 17 October 2005
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Physical Society (APS) in Physical Review Letters
- Vol. 95 (17) , 173201
- https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.95.173201
Abstract
We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.Keywords
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