Realization of a high power optical trapping setup free from thermal lensing effects

Abstract

Transmission of high power laser beams through partially absorbing materials modifies the light propagation via a thermally-induced effect known as thermal lensing. This may cause changes in the beam waist position and degrade the beam quality. Here we characterize the effect of thermal lensing associated with the different elements typically employed in an optical trapping setup for cold atoms experiments. We find that the only relevant thermal lens is represented by the $Te{O}_2$ crystal of the acousto-optic modulator exploited to adjust the laser power on the atomic sample. We then devise a simple and totally passive scheme that enables to realize an inexpensive optical trapping apparatus essentially free from thermal lensing effects.

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Exploring ultracold collisions in ${}^6$Li-${}^{53}$Cr Fermi mixtures: Feshbach resonances and scattering properties of a novel alkali-transition metal system
• Realization of a Cold Mixture of Fermionic Chromium and Lithium Atoms
• Double-degenerate Fermi mixtures of ${}^6$Li and ${}^{53}$Cr atoms
• Dynamic high-resolution optical trapping of ultracold atoms
• Rapid generation of all-optical ${}^{39}$K Bose-Einstein condensates using a low-field Feshbach resonance