Versatile laser system for experiments with cold atomic gases

Abstract

We describe a simple and compact architecture for generating all optical frequencies required for the laser cooling, state preparation and detection of atoms in an ultracold rubidium-87 experiment from a single 780 nm laser source. In particular, repump light $\sim$ 6.5 GHz away from the cooling transition is generated by using a high-bandwidth fiber-coupled eletro-optical modulator (EOM) in a feedback loop configuration. The looped repump light generation scheme solves the problem of the limited power handling capabilities characteristics of fiber EOMs. We demonstrate the functionality of the system by creating a high atom number magneto-optical trap (MOT)