130 research outputs found
A proposal for continuous loading of an optical dipole trap with magnetically guided ultra cold atoms
The capture of a moving atom by a non-dissipative trap, such as an optical
dipole trap, requires the removal of the excessive kinetic energy of the atom.
In this article we develop a mechanism to harvest ultra cold atoms from a
guided atom beam into an optical dipole trap by removing their directed kinetic
energy. We propose a continuous loading scheme where this is accomplished via
deceleration by a magnetic potential barrier followed by optical pumping to the
energetically lowest Zeeman sublevel. We theoretically investigate the
application of this scheme to the transfer of ultra cold chromium atoms from a
magnetically guided atom beam into a deep optical dipole trap. We discuss the
realization of a suitable magnetic field configuration. Based on numerical
simulations of the loading process we analyze the feasibility and efficiency of
our loading scheme.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Observation of Feshbach resonances in an ultracold gas of Cr
We have observed Feshbach resonances in elastic collisions between ultracold
Cr atoms. This is the first observation of collisional Feshbach
resonances in an atomic species with more than one valence electron. The zero
nuclear spin of Cr and thus the absence of a Fermi-contact interaction
leads to regularly-spaced resonance sequences. By comparing resonance positions
with multi-channel scattering calculations we determine the s-wave scattering
length of the lowest potentials to be
\unit[112(14)]{a_0}, \unit[58(6)]{a_0} and -\unit[7(20)]{a_0} for S=6, 4,
and 2, respectively, where a_{0}=\unit[0.0529]{nm}.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 1 tabl
Laser cooling of a magnetically guided ultra cold atom beam
We report on the transverse laser cooling of a magnetically guided beam of
ultra cold chromium atoms. Radial compression by a tapering of the guide is
employed to adiabatically heat the beam. Inside the tapered section heat is
extracted from the atom beam by a two-dimensional optical molasses
perpendicular to it, resulting in a significant increase of atomic phase space
density. A magnetic offset field is applied to prevent optical pumping to
untrapped states. Our results demonstrate that by a suitable choice of the
magnetic offset field, the cooling beam intensity and detuning, atom losses and
longitudinal heating can be avoided. Final temperatures below 65 microkelvin
have been achieved, corresponding to an increase of phase space density in the
guided beam by more than a factor of 30.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Expansion dynamics of a dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate
Our recent measurements on the expansion of a chromium dipolar condensate
after release from an optical trapping potential are in good agreement with an
exact solution of the hydrodynamic equations for dipolar Bose gases. We report
here the theoretical method used to interpret the measurement data as well as
more details of the experiment and its analysis. The theory reported here is a
tool for the investigation of different dynamical situations in time-dependent
harmonic traps.Comment: 12 pages. Submitted to PR
Bose-Einstein condensation of chromium
We report on the generation of a Bose-Einstein condensate in a gas of
chromium atoms, which will make studies of the effects of anisotropic
long-range interactions in degenerate quantum gases possible. The preparation
of the chromium condensate requires novel cooling strategies that are adapted
to its special electronic and magnetic properties. The final step to reach
quantum degeneracy is forced evaporative cooling of 52Cr atoms within a crossed
optical dipole trap. At a critical temperature of T~700nK, we observe
Bose-Einstein condensation by the appearance of a two-component velocity
distribution. Released from an anisotropic trap, the condensate expands with an
inversion of the aspect ratio. We observe critical behavior of the condensate
fraction as a function of temperature and more than 50,000 condensed 52Cr
atoms.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Strong dipolar effects in a quantum ferrofluid
We report on the realization of a Chromium Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)
with strong dipolar interaction. By using a Feshbach resonance, we reduce the
usual isotropic contact interaction, such that the anisotropic magnetic
dipole-dipole interaction between 52Cr atoms becomes comparable in strength.
This induces a change of the aspect ratio of the cloud, and, for strong dipolar
interaction, the inversion of ellipticity during expansion - the usual "smoking
gun" evidence for BEC - can even be suppressed. These effects are accounted for
by taking into account the dipolar interaction in the superfluid hydrodynamic
equations governing the dynamics of the gas, in the same way as classical
ferrofluids can be described by including dipolar terms in the classical
hydrodynamic equations. Our results are a first step in the exploration of the
unique properties of quantum ferrofluids.Comment: Final, published versio
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