ar X iv : p hy si cs / 0 30 90 34 v 1 5 S ep 2 00 3 Efficient magneto - optical trapping of Yb atoms with a violet laser diode

We report the first efficient trapping of rare-earth Yb atoms with a high-power violet laser diode (LD). An injection-locked violet LD with a 25 mW frequency-stabilized output was used for the magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of fermionic as well as bosonic Yb isotopes. A typical number of 4 × 10 atoms for Yb with a trap density of ∼ 1 × 10/cm was obtained. A 10 mW violet external-cavity LD (ECLD) was used for the one-dimensional (1D) slowing of an effusive Yb atomic beam without a Zeeman slower resulting in a 35-fold increase in the number of trapped atoms. The overall characteristics of our compact violet MOT, e.g., the loss time of 1 s, the loading time of 400 ms, and the cloud temperature of 0.7 mK, are comparable to those in previously reported violet Yb MOTs, yet with a greatly reduced cost and complexity of the experiment.