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We have obtained fast loading of a rubidium magneto-optical trap and very high collection efficiency by\ud capturing the atoms desorbed by a light flash from a polydimethylsiloxane film deposited on the internal\ud surface of a cell. The atoms are trapped with an effective loading time of about 65 ms at a loading rate greater\ud than 23108 atoms per second. This rate is larger than the values reported in literature and is obtained by\ud preserving a long lifetime of the trapped atoms. This lifetime exceeds the filling time by nearly two orders of\ud magnitude. Trap loading by light-induced desorption from siloxane compounds can be very effectively applied\ud to store and trap a large number of atoms in the case of very weak atomic flux or extremely low vapor density.\ud It can be also effectively used for fast production of ultracold atoms

We describe an apparatus for the stabilization of laser frequencies that prevents long-term frequency drifts. A Fabry–Perot interferometer is thermostated by referencing it to a stabilized He–Ne laser (master), and its length is scanned over more than one free spectral range allowing the analysis of one or more lines generated by other (slave) lasers. A digital acquisition system makes the detection of the position of all the laser peaks possible, thus producing both feedback for the thermostat and the error signal used for stabilizing the slave lasers. This technique also allows for easy, referenced scanning of the slave laser frequencies over range of several hundred MHz, with a precision of the order of a few MHz. This kind of stabilization system is particularly useful when no atomic or molecular reference lines are available, as in the case of rare or short lived radioactive species

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