Cold strontium atoms for an optical frequency standard

摘要

We report the capture of cold strontium atoms in a magnetooptical trap at a rate of 3/spl times/10/sup 10/ atoms/s. This is achieved with high power laser light at 461 nm generated by sum frequency mixing in a potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP) crystal using diode lasers at 813 nm and a Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm. Up to 115 mW of blue light is obtained. Tuned to the /sup 1/S/sub 0//spl rarr//sup 1/P/sub 1/ of /sup 88/Sr, this light is used both to slow down an atomic beam in a Zeeman slower and to capture the atoms in a magnetooptical trap. Trapping of /sup 87/Sr and /sup 86/Sr is also reported.