Abstract
The focusing of atoms carrying a magnetic dipole moment by magnetic hexapole lenses was demonstrated in the early 1950’s.1 The application of such lenses with focal length f ~ v−2 (atomic velocity v) for imaging was never attempted, however, because of the large velocity spread of thermal atomic beams. With laser-cooling techniques it is now possible to prepare atomic beams at low velocities with a narrow velocity distribution. With NdFeB permanent magnets very strong hexapole fields (d2B/dr2 = 2.5 T/cm2) can be created for reasonable apertures of the order of 1 cm.2 Hence, in combination with a slow atomic beam, focal lengths in the centimeter domain are readily obtained and can be used for imaging purposes.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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