title: High-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules.
abstract: We demonstrate and characterize a high-flux beam source for cold, slow atoms or molecules. The desired species is vaporized using laser ablation, then cooled by thermalization in a cryogenic cell of buffer gas. The beam is formed by particles exiting a hole in the buffer gas cell. We characterize the properties of the beam (flux, forward velocity, temperature) for both an atom (Na) and a molecule (PbO) under varying buffer gas density, and discuss conditions for optimizing these beam parameters. Our source compares favorably to existing techniques of beam formation, for a variety of applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Maxwell
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Brahms
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: deCarvalho
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Glenn
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Helton
authors.forename: S V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Petricka
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: DeMille
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Doyle