Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...
Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...
Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...
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Dichroic mirrors are used <strong>to</strong> align near-resonant laser beams along the same<br />
optical axis used for the blue-detuned beams.<br />
4.3.3 Imag<strong>in</strong>g Setups<br />
Both absorption <strong>and</strong> fluorescence imag<strong>in</strong>g setups are implemented <strong>in</strong> the rubid-<br />
ium experiment along two different directions. The horizontal probe beam is comb<strong>in</strong>ed<br />
with the beam path of one of the lower horizontal MOT beams us<strong>in</strong>g a polariz<strong>in</strong>g beam<br />
splitter cube. A second polariz<strong>in</strong>g beam splitter cube beh<strong>in</strong>d the glass cell picks off the<br />
imag<strong>in</strong>g beam aga<strong>in</strong>. A series of two 120 mm lenses <strong>and</strong> a 4× objective lens image the<br />
a<strong>to</strong>ms on<strong>to</strong> a CCD camera (Apogee AP9e). Because the imag<strong>in</strong>g beam copropagates<br />
with the MOT/molasses beam the same optical setup cannot be used <strong>to</strong> take fluorescence<br />
images <strong>in</strong> the horizontal direction. Instead, a high solid angle collection lens collects the<br />
fluorescence light [75]. A mo<strong>to</strong>rized flipper mirror <strong>in</strong> front of the objective lens allows<br />
for fluorescence imag<strong>in</strong>g us<strong>in</strong>g the same camera used for absorption imag<strong>in</strong>g.<br />
Along the vertical direction the absorption imag<strong>in</strong>g beam is comb<strong>in</strong>ed with the<br />
push beam on a polariz<strong>in</strong>g beam splitter cube. For imag<strong>in</strong>g the a<strong>to</strong>ms the push beam<br />
is turned off, <strong>and</strong> the absorption imag<strong>in</strong>g beam is tuned <strong>to</strong> the |F = 2〉 → |F ′ = 3〉<br />
transition. The a<strong>to</strong>ms are imaged on<strong>to</strong> a CCD camera (Apogee Alta U47+) with a net<br />
magnification of 4.33. The same optics used <strong>to</strong> create the absorption image along the<br />
vertical axis also allow for tak<strong>in</strong>g a fluorescence image along the vertical axis.<br />
4.4 Computer <strong>Control</strong><br />
Precision tim<strong>in</strong>g <strong>and</strong> fast data-acquisition <strong>and</strong> analysis are necessary <strong>to</strong> success-<br />
fully run a cold a<strong>to</strong>m experiment. The experimental sequence is controlled by a PC<br />
conta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g several PCI boards from National Instruments (NI), two digital <strong>in</strong>put/output<br />
boards (PCI-6533) <strong>and</strong> three analog output boards (PCI-6733). These cards form the<br />
heart of a home-built hardware system capable of controll<strong>in</strong>g 80 digital outputs <strong>and</strong> 64<br />
analog outputs. An additional NI card allows for communication <strong>to</strong> additional hardware<br />
via GPIB. This computer runs the program <strong>Control</strong>, written by a former postdoc<strong>to</strong>ral<br />
65