Mixing of ultracold atomic clouds by merging of two magnetic traps

Abstract

We demonstrate a method to make mixtures of ultracold atoms that does not make use of a two-species magneto-optical trap. We prepare two clouds of 87Rb atoms in distinct magnetic quadrupole traps and mix the two clouds by merging the traps. For correctly chosen parameters the mixing can be done essentially without loss of atoms and with only minor heating. The basic features of the process can be accounted for by a classical simulation of particle trajectories. Such calculations indicate that mixing of different mass species is also feasible, opening the way for using the method as a starting point for making quantum gas mixtures.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figures. Fig. 10 corrected. Fig. 13 updated with more points and better statistics. A couple of paragraphs rephrased and typos corrected. References update

Magnetic merging of ultracold atomic gases ofRb85andRb87Händel1, Wiles2, Marchant3 et al. 2011Phys. Rev. A4030View full textAdd to dashboardCite

“…In particular, we provide a detailed analysis of the combined magnetic-field potential during the merging process that highlights the optimum merging trajectory. This analysis significantly extends the previous experimental study [42] and should have general applicability for any similar trap-merging experiments. We convincingly demonstrate the validity of our analysis with a specific example, the merging of ultracold atomic gases of 85 Rb and 87 Rb.…”

Sub-atom shot noise Faraday imaging of ultracold atom clouds

“…The atomic sample is produced by standard techniques [13,14]. We first generate a large cloud containing ∼ 10 9 87 Rb atoms in a vapour pressure magneto-optical trap (MOT), whereupon the atoms are transferred into a magnetic quadrupole trap.…”

“…We first generate a large cloud containing ∼ 10 9 87 Rb atoms in a vapour pressure magneto-optical trap (MOT), whereupon the atoms are transferred into a magnetic quadrupole trap. The quadrupole trap is transported on a translation stage to a region of the vacuum chamber that is held at a lower pressure, where the atoms are transferred to a Ioffe-Pritchard (IP) magnetic trap [14,15]. The IP trap has axial and radial trapping frequencies ω z = 2π × 17.1 Hz and ω ρ = 2π × 296 Hz, respectively, with an axial bias field of 330 mG.…”

Magnetic transport apparatus for the production of ultracold atomic gases in the vicinity of a dielectric surface

“…33 The magnetic transport technique has been proven to move cold atoms with negligible heating. 34,[41][42][43] Our magnetic transport system uses a pair of coils in near-anti-Helmholtz configuration which are displaced using a motorized translation stage (Parker XR404) that runs along a robust rail track of length 80 cm. The transport coils are constructed from Kapton-insulated, square cross section, hollow copper tubing and have 8 × 3 turns per coil.…”