Laser system for cold atom experiments in optical surface trap

In this final year project, a compact laser system is built and characterized for cold atom experiments with 87Rb atoms. We build 2 tunable grating stabilized external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) at 780nm, serving as the lasers for cooling and trapping of the atoms. The power from one of the ECDL is...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Ma, Ruichao
Other Authors: Rainer Helmut Dumke
Format: Final Year Project
Language:English
Published: 2009
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/17047
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
Description
Summary:In this final year project, a compact laser system is built and characterized for cold atom experiments with 87Rb atoms. We build 2 tunable grating stabilized external cavity diode lasers (ECDLs) at 780nm, serving as the lasers for cooling and trapping of the atoms. The power from one of the ECDL is amplified with a tapered amplifier in the master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration. The lasers are frequency stabilized to within 1MHz by two different techniques: AC locking using saturated absorption spectroscopy, and trombone locking using beat signal. Acousto-optic modulators (AOMs) are used to offset and tune the frequency of the various beams required for the experiment: the cooling beams, repumping beam, optical pumping beam and the imaging beam. We deliver the beams from the laser system to the experiment using single mode fibers. The setup for the proposed optical surface trap experiment is also described, and the experimental sequence is outlined.