Trapping 171Yb atoms into a one-dimensional optical lattice with a small waist

In most experiments with atoms trapped in optical lattices, the transverse size of the optical lattice beams is of the order of tens of micrometers, and loading many atoms into smaller optical lattices has not been carefully investigated. We report trapping 1500 Yb-171 atoms in a one-dimensional optical lattice generated by a narrow cavity mode at a distance of 0.14 mm from a mirror surface. The simplest approach of loading atoms from a mirror magneto-optical trap overlapped with the cavity mode allows the adjustment of the loading position by tuning a uniform bias magnetic field. The number of atoms trapped in the optical lattice exhibits two local maxima for different lattice depths, with a global maximum in the deeper lattice. These results open a way to quantum mechanical manipulation of atoms based on strong interaction with a tightly focused light field.