Fast switching of alkali atom dispensers using laser-induced heating

We show that by using an intense laser source to locally heat an alkali atom dispenser, one can generate a high flux of atoms followed by fast recovery (<100ms) of the background pressure when the laser is extinguished. For repeated heating pulses a switch-on time for the atomic flux of 200ms is readily attainable. This technique is suited to ultracold atom experiments using simple ultrahigh vacuum (UHV) chambers. Laser-induced heating provides a fast repetition of the experimental cycle, which, combined with low atom loss due to background gas collisions, is particularly useful for experiments involving far-off resonance optical traps, where sufficient laser power (0.5–4W) is readily available.