Zeeman Slower

Instrument that slows a hot atomic beam to a few meters per second using a resonant laser and a spatially varying magnetic field.

Specifications & Metrics

A scientific instrument commonly used in atomic physics to slow and cool a beam of hot atoms to speeds of several meters per second.
A near-resonant pump laser Doppler-slows a chosen velocity class of the beam.
A solenoid-like coil along the beam axis produces a magnetic field of spatially varying magnitude that keeps the atoms resonant as they decelerate.