Detachable 2D MOT platform as a source of cold cesium atoms

We have designed a detachable 2D Magneto-optical Trap (MOT) platform to provide us with a continuous collimated beam of cold cesium (Cs) atoms. This detachable 2D MOT platform requires only a single laser source; this beam is split 5 ways with each beam being reflected in both the horizontal and vertical directions with polarizations being accounted for. We load this source of cesium atoms into a main 3D MOT chamber and subsequently increase the magnetic field gradient and detuning to produce a compressed MOT (CMOT). The CMOT is then pulled into an optical molasses by further increasing the detuning and removing the magnetic field gradient. At this stage, the background magnetic field is minimized through the aid of compensation coils, whose current values are adjusted by minimizing the separation of the measured peaks between adjacent microwave Zeeman transitions of the ground F = 3 F = 4 states. This transition is driven with an external microwave source amplifier and a waveguide antenna with no horn. We will present the latest results of time-of-flight imaging, as well as comparisons of optical designs and vacuum pumping techniques.