17th Annual Student Research Conference
Science
Cooling and Trapping of Rubidium Atoms
Lisa S. Leslie*, James H. Park, Kyle Bailey, and Bryan McClellan
Dr. Michael Goggin, Faculty Mentor
Commercial diode lasers are being used to create a magneto-optical trap (MOT) in order to cool and trap Rb atoms. The dichroic-atomic-vapor laser lock (DAVLL) technique [Corwin, Kristan L. et al, Applied Optics 37, 3295 (1998)] is being employed to lock the grating-feedback diode laser to the appropriate hyperfine transitions. The locking circuit provides active control of the laser frequency and locks the laser to a specific transition based on an error signal from the DAVLL system. A separate saturated absorption spectroscopy setup is being used to resolve the hyperfine structure, verify the frequency at which the laser is operating, and monitor its stability. The results of the saturated absorption measurements and progress on the DAVLL will be presented.
Keywords: diode lasers, MOT, DAVLL, trapping, cooling, spectroscopy
Topic(s):Physics
Presentation Type: Poster
Session: 26-26
Location: OP Lobby & Atrium
Time: 1:15