Hyperfine and Zeeman optical pumping and transverse laser cooling of a thermal atomic beam of dysprosium using a single 421-nm laser

We demonstrate the effect of Zeeman and hyperfine optical pumping and transverse laser cooling of a dysprosium (Dy) atomic beam on the <a:math xmlns:a="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <a:mrow> <a:mn>4</a:mn> <a:msup> <a:mi>f</a:mi> <a:mn>10</a:mn> </a:msup> <a:mn>6</a:mn> <a:msup> <a:mi>s</a:mi> <a:mn>2</a:mn> </a:msup> <a:mrow> <a:mo>(</a:mo> <a:mi>J</a:mi> <a:mo>=</a:mo> <a:mn>8</a:mn> <a:mo>)</a:mo> </a:mrow> <a:mo>→</a:mo> <a:mn>4</a:mn> <a:msup> <a:mi>f</a:mi> <a:mn>10</a:mn> </a:msup> <a:mn>6</a:mn> <a:mi>s</a:mi> <a:mn>6</a:mn> <a:mi>p</a:mi> <a:mrow> <a:mo>(</a:mo> <a:mi>J</a:mi> <a:mo>=</a:mo> <a:mn>9</a:mn> <a:mo>)</a:mo> </a:mrow> </a:mrow> </a:math> transition at 421.291 nm. For <b:math xmlns:b="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <b:mmultiscripts> <b:mi>Dy</b:mi> <b:mprescripts/> <b:none/> <b:mn>163</b:mn> </b:mmultiscripts> </b:math> , a custom-built electro-optic modulator is used to generate five frequency sidebands required to pump the atoms to the <c:math xmlns:c="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <c:mrow> <c:mi>F</c:mi> <c:mo>=</c:mo> <c:mn>10.5</c:mn> </c:mrow> </c:math> ground-state hyperfine level, and the light polarization is chosen to pump the atoms to the <d:math xmlns:d="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML"> <d:mrow> <d:msub> <d:mi>m</d:mi> <d:mi>F</d:mi> </d:msub> <d:mo>=</d:mo> <d:mn>10.5</d:mn> </d:mrow> </d:math> Zeeman sublevel. The atoms are simultaneously laser cooled using a standing wave orthogonal to the atomic beam. The resulting polarized and cooled atomic beam will be used in fundamental physics experiments taking advantage of the “accidental” degeneracy of excited states in Dy, including the ongoing measurement of parity violation in this system.