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High-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules

S. E. Maxwell, N. Brahms, R. deCarvalho, J. Helton, S. V. Nguyen, D. Patterson, J. M. Doyle, D. R. Glenn, J. Petricka, D. DeMille

physics.atom-pharXiv:physics/0508100

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.

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