Multistage Zeeman deceleration of metastable neon.

Area of Science:

• Atomic Physics
• Quantum Mechanics
• Laser Cooling and Trapping

Background:

• Metastable neon atoms are crucial for various quantum applications.
• Efficiently decelerating and cooling these atoms presents significant experimental challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the deceleration of a supersonic beam of metastable neon atoms.
• To characterize the phase-space distribution and temperature of the decelerated atoms.
• To investigate the potential for isotope separation using this technique.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a multistage Zeeman decelerator with 91 solenoids to manipulate atomic magnetic moments.
• Employed time-of-flight and imaging measurements for phase-space characterization.
• Conducted experiments with different Neon isotopes (20Ne and 22Ne) to assess isotope separation.

Main Results:

• Achieved deceleration of neon atoms from 580 m/s to as low as 105 m/s.
• Removed over 95% of the initial kinetic energy of the atoms.
• Obtained a temperature of 10 mK in the moving frame of the decelerated sample.
• Quantified the phase-space acceptance of the decelerator through simulations and measurements.

Conclusions:

• The multistage Zeeman decelerator is effective for cooling and decelerating metastable neon atoms.
• The achieved low temperatures and high kinetic energy removal demonstrate significant advancements in atom manipulation.
• The study shows promise for using Zeeman deceleration for isotope separation of neon.