5 research outputs found
Magnetic trapping of metastable atomic strontium
We report the magnetic trapping of metastable atomic strontium. Atoms
are cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the dipole allowed
transition at 461 nm. Decay via
continuously loads a magnetic trap formed by the quadrupole magnetic field of
the MOT. Over atoms at a density of cm and
temperature of 1 mK are trapped. The atom temperature is significantly lower
than what would be expected from the kinetic and potential energy of atoms as
they are transferred from the MOT. This suggests that thermalization and
evaporative cooling are occurring in the magnetic trap.Comment: This paper has been accepted by PR
Photoionization of ultracold and Bose-Einstein condensed Rb atoms
Photoionization of a cold atomic sample offers intriguing possibilities to
observe collective effects at extremely low temperatures. Irradiation of a
rubidium condensate and of cold rubidium atoms within a magneto-optical trap
with laser pulses ionizing through 1-photon and 2-photon absorption processes
has been performed. Losses and modifications in the density profile of the
remaining trapped cold cloud or the remaining condensate sample have been
examined as function of the ionizing laser parameters. Ionization
cross-sections were measured for atoms in a MOT, while in magnetic traps losses
larger than those expected for ionization process were measured.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure