A simple velocity-tunable pulsed atomic source of slow metastable argon
Résumé
A pulsed beam of metastable argon atoms having a low tunable velocity (10 to 150 m.s^−1) is produced with a very substantial brightness (9×10^8 Ar*.s^−1.sr^−1). The present original experimental configuration leads to a variable velocity dispersion that can be smaller than the standard Brownian one. This behaviour, analysed using Monte Carlo simulations, exhibits momentum stretching (heating) or narrowing (cooling) entirely due to a subtle combination of Doppler and Zeeman effects