Single-Photon Atomic Cooling - Raizen Lab - The University of ...
Single-Photon Atomic Cooling - Raizen Lab - The University of ...
Single-Photon Atomic Cooling - Raizen Lab - The University of ...
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
2.4 Magnetic Trapping<br />
<strong>The</strong> Zeeman effect can be used to spatially confine neutral atoms. This<br />
feat was first accomplished in 1985 on a sample <strong>of</strong> neutral atomic sodium<br />
[9]. This can be understood by a quite straightforward extension <strong>of</strong> the main<br />
result <strong>of</strong> the previous section where it was shown that in the low field limit an<br />
external magnetic field shifts the magnetic sublevels <strong>of</strong> an atom by an amount<br />
given by<br />
∆EZE = µBgFmF |B|. (2.34)<br />
This shift in energy is correctly viewed as a confining potential for the atoms,<br />
the force on which is found from taking the gradient <strong>of</strong> this expression.<br />
FZE = −µBgFmF(∇|B|) (2.35)<br />
In the previous two equations I have been explicit that it is the mag-<br />
nitude <strong>of</strong> the magnetic field which is important and not the vector quantity.<br />
<strong>The</strong> reason for this is that under certain conditions, which are met in our trap<br />
almost everywhere, the atomic magnetic moments follow the direction <strong>of</strong> the<br />
confining magnetic field. <strong>The</strong> condition for this adiabatic following can be<br />
written as ωL ≫ |dB/dt|/B, where ωL = µB/ is the Larmor precession rate<br />
in the applied magnetic field. If this condition is not met, it can result in trap<br />
loss via a process known as Majorana spin flips.<br />
Examination <strong>of</strong> Eqs. 2.34 and 2.35 reveals that there are two main<br />
classes <strong>of</strong> atomic states with respect to magnetic trapping. <strong>The</strong> first, com-<br />
monly called high-field seeking states, satisfy gFmF < 0 and therefore mini-<br />
40