Abstract

We have built a superconducting magnet system consisting of a parabolic longitudinal field to stow atoms and a trap with a magnetic field minimum ~1 K deep. The technique consists in decelerating a neutral atomic beam by using a near-resonant counterpropagating laser and a spatially varying magnetic field (Fig. 1, part I) to compensate for the changing Doppler shift.¹ The trap consists of a longitudinal confinement field superimposed on a transverse magnetic quadrupole or octupole field.² A second laser and parabolic field will be used to provide final slowing and cooling for atoms in the trap region (Fig. 1, part II).

© 1987 Optical Society of America