State selective charge transfer cross sections for Na+ with excited rubidium: a unique diagnostic of the population dynamics of a magneto-optical trap

It is shown how the newly developed technique of magneto-optical-trap recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy can be used to measure the temporal evolution of excited state fraction in such a trap. In this case, the fraction of atoms in a 5p state is measured. The technique can be generalized to allow the...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2003-12, Vol.91 (24), p.243005-243005
Main Authors: Flechard, X, Nguyen, H, Bredy, R, Lundeen, S R, Stauffer, M, Camp, H A, Fehrenbach, C W, DePaola, B D
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:It is shown how the newly developed technique of magneto-optical-trap recoil-ion momentum spectroscopy can be used to measure the temporal evolution of excited state fraction in such a trap. In this case, the fraction of atoms in a 5p state is measured. The technique can be generalized to allow the measurement of more complicated systems, e.g., a Rb sample having a mixture of 5s, 5p, 4d, and Rydberg states.
ISSN:0031-9007
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.91.243005