Magneto-optical trap performance for high-bandwidth applications

Abstract

We study the dynamics of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating at high-bandwidth. We find the absolute importance of high recapture efficiency between cycles to maintain a practical atom number. We develop a simple model accounting for MOT trapping forces and pressure induced collisions and validate with experimental data using ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$. This is then applied to quantum sensing predicting a shot noise limited sensitivity of $10^{-7}g/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ for a gravimeter at 100 Hz operation. The results are useful for understanding MOT operation at high-bandwidth, particularly in the context of developing mobile high-bandwidth quantum inertial sensors targeting dynamic environments and navigation applications.