Red- and blue-detuned magneto-optical trapping with liquid crystal variable retarders.

We exploit red- and blue-detuned magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of Rb benefitting from a simplified setup and a novel approach based on liquid crystal variable retarders (LCVR). To maintain the trapping forces when switching from a red- to a blue-detuned MOT, the handedness of the circular polarization of the cooling beams needs to be reversed. LCVRs allow fast polarization control and represent compact, simple, and cost-efficient components, which can easily be implemented in existing laser systems. This way, we achieve a blue-detuned type-II MOT for 8.7 × 10 atoms of Rb with sub-Doppler temperatures of 44 μK well below the temperatures reached in a conventional Rb type-I MOT. The phase space density is increased by more than two orders of magnitude compared to the standard red-detuned type-I MOT. The setup can readily be transferred to any other systems working with Rb.