Low-Velocity Intense Source of Atoms from a Magneto-optical Trap.

We have produced and characterized an intense, slow, and highly collimated atomic beam extracted from a standard vapor cell magneto-optical trap (MOT).The technique used is dramatically simpler than previous methods for producing very cold atomic beams. We have created a 0.6mm diameter rubidium atomic beam with a continuous flux of 5{times}10{sup 9}/s and a pulsed flux 10times greater. Its longitudinal velocity distribution is centered at 14 m/s with a FWHM of 2.7 m/s. Through an efficient recycling process, 70{percent} of the atoms trapped in the MOT are loaded into the atomic beam. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}