München 2004 – scientific programme

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Q: Quantenoptik und Photonik

Q 38: Poster Fallen und Kühlung

Q 38.3: Poster

Thursday, March 25, 2004, 14:00–16:00, Schellingstr. 3

Towards Formation of a Metastable Calcium BEC — •Dirk Hansen, Janis Mohr, Ciprian Zafiu, and Andreas Hemmerich — Institut für Laserphysik, Universität Hamburg, Luruper Chaussee 149, 22761 Hamburg

Alkaline-earth-metal atoms provide a unique combination of interesting spectroscopic features connected to their two valence electrons. The resulting singlet and triplet states offer strong principle fluorescence lines well suited for laser cooling as well as narrow-band intercombination transitions that can be used for refined laser cooling schemes. The metastable ³P₂, m_J=2 state is an interesting candidate for magnetic trapping and the formation of a Bose-Einstein-Condensate (BEC).

Efficient production and magnetic trapping of cold metastable Calcium has recently been demonstrated in our group [1-2]. In this poster, we report on modifications of the experimental setup, which promise significant improvements in particle number, temperature, and density. The prospects of evaporative cooling and BEC-formation in a miniature Ioffe - Pritchard trap are discussed.

[1] J. Grünert, S. Ritter, and A. Hemmerich, Phys. Rev. A 65, 041401(R) (2002)

[2] D. Hansen, J. Mohr, A. Hemmerich, Phys. Rev. A 67, 021401(R) (2003)