1. Planar diffractive grating for magneto-optical trap application: fabrication and testing
- Author
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Guochao Wang, Gaopeng Xue, Xinghui Li, Qihang Zhai, Zhu Lingxiao, Kangning Yu, Shuhua Yan, Junhao Zhu, Aihua Zhong, Guangyao Huang, and Min Wang
- Subjects
Diffraction ,Materials science ,business.industry ,Physics::Optics ,Grating ,Diffraction efficiency ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,law.invention ,Interferometry ,Optics ,Optical path ,law ,Magneto-optical trap ,Atom optics ,Physics::Accelerator Physics ,Physics::Atomic Physics ,Electrical and Electronic Engineering ,business ,Engineering (miscellaneous) ,Beam splitter - Abstract
The design, fabrication, and demonstration of a planar two-dimensional-crossed reflective diffractive grating are proposed to construct a novel optical configuration, to the best of our knowledge, potentially applied for atom cooling and trapping in a magneto-optical trap. Based on the proposed single-beam single-exposure scheme by means of an orthogonal two-axis Lloyd’s mirrors interferometer, we rapidly patterned a ∼ 1 µ m period grating capable of providing a uniform intensity of the diffracted beams. The key structural parameters of the grating including the array square hole’s width and depth were determined, aiming at providing a high energy of the diffracted beams to perform the atom cooling and trapping. To guarantee the diffracted beams to be overlapped possibly, we adopted a polarized beam splitter to guide the optical path of the incident and zero-order diffracted beams. Therefore, one zero-order diffracted beam with a retroreflected mode and four first-order diffracted beams with appropriate optical path constructed a three-dimensional optical configuration of three orthogonal pairs of counterpropagating beams. Finally, three pairs of the counterpropagating cooling laser beams with 9 mm diameter and > 10 % diffraction efficiencies were achieved, and the circular polarization chirality, purity, and compensation of the desired diffracted beams are further evaluated, which preliminarily validated a high applicability for the magneto-optical trap system.
- Published
- 2021