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Title: Suppression of ultracold ground-state hyperfine-changing collisions with laser light

Journal Article · · Physical Review Letters
; ; ; ; ; ;  [1]
  1. Department of Physics, U-46, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut 06269-3046 (United States)

Using laser light tuned to a repulsive molecular potential, we have been able to suppress inelastic ground-state hyperfine-changing collisions between ultracold {sup 87}Rb atoms. Adiabatic excitation to the repulsive curve alters the atomic trajectories and prevents the atoms from approaching close enough for the hyperfine change to occur. Experimental results show suppressions up to {similar_to}50% and are in reasonable agreement with a simple Landau-Zener model. Our ability to control collisional trap loss processes may have important implications for the achievement of high densities in laser cooled samples.

OSTI ID:
69282
Journal Information:
Physical Review Letters, Vol. 74, Issue 23; Other Information: PBD: 5 Jun 1995
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English