We improve the efficiency of sawtooth-wave-adiabatic-passage (SWAP) cooling [1-3] for strontium atoms in three dimensions and combine it with standard narrow-line laser cooling. With this technique, we create strontium magneto-optical traps with 6 × 10 7 bosonic 88 Sr (1 × 10 7 fermionic 87 Sr) atoms at phase-space densities of 2 × 10 −3 (1.4 × 10 −4 ). Our method is simple to implement and is faster and more robust than traditional cooling methods. arXiv:1903.06435v1 [physics.atom-ph]

We studied light assisted collisions of Tm atoms in a magneto optical trap (MOT) for the first time, working on a weak cooling transition at 530.7 nm ( 13 24f ( H )5d 6s , 9 / 2, 5  JF ). We observed a strong influence from radiation trapping and light assisted collisions on the dynamics of this trap. We carefully separated these two contributions and measured the binary loss rate constant at different laser powers and detuning frequencies near the cooling transition. Analyzing losses from the MOT, we found the light assisted inelastic binary loss rate constant to reach values of up to 93 10 cm s    and gave the upper bound on a branching ratio 6 0.8 10   k for the 530.7 nm transition.II.

No abstract

We report on accurate measurements of the scalar αS and tensor αT polarizabilities of the 5D fine structure levels 5D 3/2 and 5D 5/2 in Rb. The measured values (in atomic units) αS(5D 3/2 ) = 18400(75), αT (5D 3/2 ) = −750(30), αS(5D 5/2 ) = 18600(76) and αT (5D 5/2 ) = −1440(60) show reasonable correspondence to previously published theoretical predictions, but are more accurate. We implemented laser excitation of the 5D level in a laser cooled cloud of optically polarized Rb-87 atoms placed in a constant electric field.