Manipulating Beams of Ultra-cold Atoms with a Static Magnetic Field

Abstract

We report preliminary results on the deflection of a beam of ultra-cold atoms by a static magnetic field. Caesium atoms trapped in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) are cooled using optical molasses, and then fall freely under gravity to form a beam of ultra-cold atoms. The atoms pass through a static inhomogeneous magnetic field produced by a single current-carrying wire, and are deflected by a force \l(f.l. B) dependent on the magnetic substate of the atom. The population of atoms in various magnetic substates can be altered by using resonant laser radiation to optically pump the atoms.

Microscopic Atom Optics: From Wires to an Atom Chip

“…In 1995 the Melbourne group [68,69,70] performed an experiment where a beam of laser cooled cesium atoms, after being released from a MOT, is scattered off a current carrying wire. As the atoms pass through the static inhomogeneous magnetic field of the wire they are deflected by a force ∇(µB) dependent on the magnetic substate of the atom (see Fig.…”