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Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...

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that most of the noise is due <strong>to</strong> the scatter<strong>in</strong>g of pho<strong>to</strong>ns from the a<strong>to</strong>ms. Most of the<br />

noise occurs at frequencies below 2 kHz. This is expla<strong>in</strong>ed by the timescales with which<br />

the a<strong>to</strong>ms move with<strong>in</strong> the capture volume of the MOT.<br />

(a) (b)<br />

Figure 8.9: (a) Electronic noise <strong>and</strong> noise caused by scattered light. (b) Noise Spectrum<br />

<strong>in</strong> the presence of the MOT. In both cases the signal of the two APDs are substracted<br />

<strong>and</strong> the difference is recorded.<br />

At this po<strong>in</strong>t it is possible <strong>to</strong> start the balanced lock-<strong>in</strong> detection. The CO2 laser<br />

is pulsed at a frequency f1 by turn<strong>in</strong>g the AOM on <strong>and</strong> off us<strong>in</strong>g an RF switch. The<br />

presence of the CO2 laser beam slightly changes the spatial distribution of the a<strong>to</strong>ms<br />

with<strong>in</strong> the MOT, caus<strong>in</strong>g a slight imbalance <strong>in</strong> the previously balanced signal from the<br />

APDs. Because this change is very small lock-<strong>in</strong> detection at the frequency f1 is used <strong>to</strong><br />

filter the small signal out of the large background noise.<br />

The ideal puls<strong>in</strong>g frequency is <strong>in</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>ciple determ<strong>in</strong>ed by three fac<strong>to</strong>rs: the elec-<br />

tronic noise <strong>in</strong> the APDs <strong>and</strong> the lock-<strong>in</strong> amplifier, which can be neglected <strong>in</strong> this case,<br />

the noise caused by fluctuations <strong>in</strong> the MOT, <strong>and</strong> the timescale at which the a<strong>to</strong>ms will<br />

be able <strong>to</strong> react <strong>to</strong> the presence of the CO2 laser beam. The ideal puls<strong>in</strong>g frequency is<br />

determ<strong>in</strong>ed <strong>to</strong> be around 2.4 kHz.<br />

Figure 8.10 (a) shows a sketch of how the coord<strong>in</strong>ate system at the lens used<br />

<strong>to</strong> focus the CO2 laser <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> the vacuum chamber is seen at the image location of the<br />

MOT. The horizontal black l<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong>dicates where the signal of the MOT is split <strong>in</strong><strong>to</strong> the<br />

two separate halves. z is the propagation axis of the laser beam <strong>and</strong> passes through the<br />

158

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