No abstract

Neutral sodium atoms have been continuously loaded into a 0. 1-k-deep superconducting magnetic trap with laser light used to slow and stop them. At least 1x10 atoms were trapped with a decay time of 2 -, ' min. The fluorescence of the trapped atoms was studied as a function of time; possible loss mechanisms from the trap are discussed.PACS numbers: 32.80.PjTrapping neutral atoms and cooling them to microkelvin temperatures will make possible a variety of experiments including precision spectroscopy, atomic collision studies in the s-wave-only regime, and studies of collective behavior including, possibly, Bose condensation. This Letter reports several important advances toward the accomplishment of such experiments. We have continuously stopped thermal sodium atoms with laser light and continuously loaded them into a 0. 1-K-deep superconducting magnetic trap. The continuous loading process has allowed us to accumulate up to 1&10 trapped atoms. This is 4 orders of magnitude more than for the previous magnetic trapping results of Migdall et al. , ' and 6 orders of magnitude more than Chu et al. obtained with use of an optical trap. We have observed trapping times of up to 2 -, ' min. -2 orders of magnitude greater than in these previous experiments -and studied the fluorescence of the trapped atoms. These increases in trapping time and number of trapped atoms will permit useful experiments with the trapped atoms for the first time. The trap has the added feature of having a uniform magnetic field at its bottom, opening up the possibility of precision spectroscopy of the trapped atoms.The arrangement of longitudinal magnetic fields, laser beams, and fluorescence detectors used in our experiment is shown in Fig. 1. The magnetic fields are generated by superconducting magnets operated in a persistent mode.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract