This paper presents a setup capable of producing a high-flux continuous beam
of cold rubidium atoms for cavity QED experiments in the regime of strong
coupling. A 2 D+ MOT, loaded by rubidium getters in a dry film coated vapor
cell, fed a secondary moving-molasses MOT (MM-MOT) at a rate of 1.5 x 1010
atoms/sec. The MM-MOT provided a continuous beam with tunable velocity. This
beam was then directed through the waist of a 280 μm cavity resulting in a
Rabi splitting of more than +/- 10 MHz. The presence of sufficient number of
atoms in the cavity mode also enabled splitting in the polarization
perpendicular to the input. The cavity was in the strong coupling regime, with
parameters (g, κ, γ)/2π equal to (7, 3, 6)/ 2π MHz.Comment: Journal pape