Quantum degenerate mixture of ytterbium and lithium atoms
- Department of Physics, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195 (United States)
We have produced a quantum degenerate mixture of fermionic alkali-metal {sup 6}Li and bosonic spin-singlet {sup 174}Yb gases. This was achieved using sympathetic cooling of lithium atoms by evaporatively cooled ytterbium atoms in a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap. We observe the coexistence of Bose-condensed (T/T{sub c}{approx_equal}0.8) {sup 174}Yb with 2.3x10{sup 4} atoms and Fermi degenerate (T/T{sub F}{approx_equal}0.3) {sup 6}Li with 1.2x10{sup 4} atoms. Quasipure Bose-Einstein condensates of up to 3x10{sup 4} {sup 174}Yb atoms can be produced in single-species experiments. Our results mark a significant step toward studies of few- and many-body physics with mixtures of alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms, and for the production of paramagnetic polar molecules in the quantum regime. Our methods also establish a convenient scheme for producing quantum degenerate ytterbium atoms in a 1064 nm optical dipole trap.
- OSTI ID:
- 22038571
- Journal Information:
- Physical Review. A, Vol. 84, Issue 1; Other Information: (c) 2011 American Institute of Physics; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 1050-2947
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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