Comparison of two absorption imaging methods to detect cold atoms in magnetic trap

• 作者: 亓鲁 王妍 胡朝晖
• 来源期刊: 中国物理B（英文版）
• 关键词: absorption imaging open-channel transition cold atoms magnetic trap
• 年，卷（期）: 2015,（2）
• 页码范围: 024203-1-024203-6
• 页数: 1页
• 语种: 英文
• DOI: 10.1088/1674-1056/24/2/024203

摘要

Two methods of absorption imaging to detect the cold atoms in a magnetic trap are implemented for high-precision cold atom interferometer. In the first method, a probe laser which is in resonance with a cycle transition frequency is used to evaluate the quantity and distribution of the atom sample. In the second method, the probe laser is tuned to an open transition frequency, which stimulates a few and constant number of photons per atom. This method has a shorter interaction time and results in absorption images which are not affected by the magnetic field and the light field. We make a comparison of performance in the sense of parameters such as pulse duration, light intensity, and magnetic field strength, between these two imaging methods. The experimental results show that the second method is more reliable to detect the quantity and density profiles of the atoms. The results fit well to the theoretical analysis.