Detachable 2D MOT platform as a source of cold cesium atoms

The basis of many experiments in atomic physics starts with the production of a sample of trapped cold atoms using a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We load a MOT in our 3D test chamber from a continuous collimated beam of cold cesium (Cs) atoms produced by a detachable 2D MOT platform. This detachable 2D platform is designed such that a single laser source is split five ways with each beam being reflected into both the horizontal and vertical directions with the polarizations being accounted for. After the MOT loading the magnetic field gradient and frequency detuning is then increased in which the Cs atoms enters a compressed MOT (CMOT) stage. The atoms are subsequently cooled through an optical molasses, where the detuning is further extended, the magnetic field gradient is removed and the residual field is minimized through the aid of compensation coils, one for each MOT beam direction. After the optical molasses stage the detuning is ramped back and we take absorption images to measure the temperature and the atomic density through the time-of-flight method.