Demonstration of a simple and compact ytterbium magneto-optical trap

2025/08/22 by White, Benjamin, Offer, Rachel F., Hilton, Ashby P. +5
#Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph) #FOS: Physical sciences

paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2508.16145

Abstract

We present a low Size, Weight and Power (SWaP), low-complexity, ytterbium magneto-optical trap (MOT). We demonstrate trapping of 1.4 × 10^{6 171}Yb atoms on the |¹S₀, F = 1/2⟩ ↔ |¹P₁, F' = 3/2⟩ transition directly from a hot thermal beam. We explore the effect of trap detuning and oven temperature on trap number, density, loading rate and sample temperature. The low SWaP and low-complexity design presents a realistic pathway towards portable ytterbium MOTs, allowing cold atom ytterbium systems to escape the confines of the laboratory and perform precision measurements in field environments.

Citations

• The SWaP plot: Visualising the performance of portable atomic clocks as a function of their size, weight and power

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