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Self-sustained oscillations in a Large Magneto-Optical Trap

Guillaume Labeyrie·Franck Michaud·Robin Kaiser
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Abstract

We have observed self-sustained radial oscillations in a large magneto-optical trap (MOT), containing up to $10^{10}$ Rb$^{85}$ atoms. This instability is due to the competition between the confining force of the MOT and the repulsive interaction associated with multiple scattering of light inside the cold atomic cloud. A simple analytical model allows us to formulate a criterion for the instability threshold, in fair agreement with our observations. This criterion shows that large numbers of trapped atoms $N>10^9$ are required to observe this unstable behavior.

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Guillaume Labeyrie, Franck Michaud, Robin Kaiser. 2005-12-06. Self-sustained oscillations in a Large Magneto-Optical Trap. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevlett.96.023003

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