Trap loss in a metastable helium-rubidium magneto-optical trap

Journal Article · Fri Jan 15 00:00:00 EST 2010 · Physical Review. A

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PHYSREVA.81.013405· OSTI ID:21388747

Byron, L J; Dall, R G; Truscott, A G ^[1]

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1. ARC Centre of Excellence for Quantum-Atom Optics and Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra ACT-0200 (Australia)

We present results of the study of a simultaneously confined metastable helium (He*) and rubidium magneto-optical trap (MOT). By monitoring the trap decay of the {sup 87}Rb MOT with and without a He* MOT present, we find the light-assisted, two-body loss rate to be beta{sub Rb-He}{sup *}=(6+-2)x10{sup -10} cm{sup 3}/s. Moreover, we find that it is possible to create a large, robust {sup 87}Rb-He* MOT, opening the possibility of creating a {sup 87}Rb-He{sup *} Bose-Einstein condensate. This would be the first dual-species condensate incorporating an alkali metal ground-state atom and an excited-state noble gas atom.

• OSTI ID: 21388747
• Journal Information: Physical Review. A, Vol. 81, Issue 1; Other Information: DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevA.81.013405; (c) 2010 The American Physical Society; ISSN 1050-2947
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS
ATOMS
BOSE-EINSTEIN CONDENSATION
EXCITED STATES
GROUND STATES
HELIUM
LOSSES
RUBIDIUM
RUBIDIUM 87
TRAPS
TWO-BODY PROBLEM
VISIBLE RADIATION
ALKALI METALS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BETA-MINUS DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY LEVELS
FLUIDS
GASES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
ISOTOPES
MANY-BODY PROBLEM
METALS
NONMETALS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
RADIATIONS
RADIOISOTOPES
RARE GASES
RUBIDIUM ISOTOPES
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES