Speckle-based feedback control of optical dipole trap axial waist position

Abstract

Cold neutral atoms is a powerful tool for many experiments ranging from frequency standards and sensing to quantum simulations. Sensitive experiments often demand transferring cold atoms from one vacuum chamber to the other with better optical access and vacuum. In case the transfer is done with a beam waist controlled by a focus-tunable lens, repeatability of the transfer as well as stability of the final position can be below the experimental demands. Here we implement the scheme for stabilization of the axial waist position of the optical dipole trap in the whole range of transfer (38 cm) using speckle patterns, which provides enough stability to achieve Bose-Einstein condensation of around 4*10^4 thulium atoms in the trap formed by the transport beam and the other beam in the target vacuum volume