Alkali metal dispensers have become an indispensable tool in the production of atomic vapors for magnetometry, alkali vapor cell clocks, and laser cooling experiments. A primary advantage of these dispensers is that they contain alkali metal in an inert form that can be exposed to air without hazard. However, their high temperature of operation (>600 °C) is undesirable for many applications, as it shifts the atomic speed distribution to higher values and presents a radiative heat source that can raise the temperature of its surroundings. For this reason, dispensers are typically not used in line-of-sight applications, such as atomic beam generation. In this work, we present an integrated rubidium dispenser collimating device with a thickness of only 2 mm that produces a beam of atoms traveling primarily in the forward direction. We find that the collimator plate serves to both shield the dispenser's radiation and moderate the velocity of the atomic beam so that the measured longitudinal speed distribution is comparable to that of an ordinary alkali oven at only a slightly elevated temperature of 200 °C. To confirm our theory, we also constructed another compact apparatus consisting of a dispenser and a silicon collimator and the measurements support our conclusion. Our integrated dispenser collimator will particularly be useful in integrated photonics and cavity QED on-chip, where a localized, directed source of Rb vapor in small quantities is needed.
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4 April 2022
Research Article|
April 04 2022
Collimated versatile atomic beam source with alkali dispensers
Bochao Wei
;
Bochao Wei
a)
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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Alexandra Crawford
;
Alexandra Crawford
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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Yorick Andeweg
;
Yorick Andeweg
b)
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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Linzhao Zhuo
;
Linzhao Zhuo
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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Chao Li
;
Chao Li
a)
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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Chandra Raman
Chandra Raman
School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology
, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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b)
Present address: Physics Department, University of Colorado Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA
Appl. Phys. Lett. 120, 144001 (2022)
Article history
Received:
February 02 2022
Accepted:
March 25 2022
Citation
Bochao Wei, Alexandra Crawford, Yorick Andeweg, Linzhao Zhuo, Chao Li, Chandra Raman; Collimated versatile atomic beam source with alkali dispensers. Appl. Phys. Lett. 4 April 2022; 120 (14): 144001. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0087155
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