Efficient magneto-optical trapping of Yb atoms with a violet laser diode

Abstract

We report an efficient trapping of rare-earth-metal Yb atoms with a high-power violet laser diode (LD). An injection-locked violet LD with a 25-mW frequency-stabilized output was used for the magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of fermionic as well as bosonic Yb isotopes. A typical number of $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{6}$ atoms for ${}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ with a trap density of $\ensuremath{\sim}1\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}{\mathrm{cm}}^{\ensuremath{-}3}$ was obtained. A 10-mW violet external-cavity LD was used for the one-dimensional slowing of an effusive Yb atomic beam without a Zeeman slower resulting in a 35-fold increase in the number of trapped atoms. The overall characteristics of our compact violet MOT, e.g., the loss time of 1 s, the loading time of 400 ms, and the cloud temperature of 0.7 mK, are comparable to those in previously reported violet Yb MOTs, yet with a greatly reduced cost and complexity of the experiment.