Reduction of background scattered light in vacuum systems for cold atoms experiments

Recent advances in the understanding and control of cold atom systems have resulted in devices with extraordinary metrological performance. To further improve the performance in these systems, additional methods of noise reduction are needed. Here, we examine the noise reduction possible from vacuum compatible low reflection coatings in cold atom systems by characterizing a black coating and its compatibility in a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT). We demonstrate that the commercially available PCO35® coating provides low-reflectivity surfaces that are ultra-high vacuum compatible. The reflective properties of the coating are compared to titanium, a common vacuum chamber material, and the reduction to scattered light is characterized over a range of angles and wavelengths. The outgassing properties of the coating are measured to be less than that of the vacuum system used to test the coating, which is limited to 3 × 10−8 mbar L cm−2 s−1. The coating is applied to a vacuum chamber housing a rubidium prism MOT, and its vacuum compatibility is assessed and compared to an identical non-coated system. Finally, the effect of scattered light reduction in a generalized system is explored theoretically. These results show promise for reducing background light in cold atom experiments via the use of low-reflectivity coatings.