Frankfurt 2006 – scientific programme
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Q: Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 53: Fallen und Kühlung II
Q 53.2: Talk
Wednesday, March 15, 2006, 14:45–15:00, HII
High phase space densities in a mixture of ultracold lithium and cesium atoms — •Jörg Lange1, Leif Vogel1, Christian Giese1, Benjamin Müller1, Stephan Kraft1, Peter Staanum1,2, Roland Wester1, and Matthias Weidemüller1 — 1Physikalisches Institut, Universität Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany — 2Institut für Quantenoptik, Universität Hannover, 30167 Hannover, Germany
Due to their capability of simultaneously storing different atomic and molecular species, far-detuned optical dipole traps offer a unique environment to study ultracold atomic and molecular collisions. We trap a mixture of lithium and cesium atoms at very low temperatures in the focus of a CO2-laser beam. Sympathetic cooling of atomic 7Li by colder Cs atoms has been demonstrated [1], and Cs-Cs2 collisional rate coefficients have been determined after homonuclear photoassociation in the trap [2].
We present a scheme to reach higher phase space densities by crossing the CO2-laser with a 1064 nm laser beam and by applying Raman sideband cooling to the Cs atoms prior to molecule formation. Prospects of sympathetically cooling atomic lithium to quantum degeneracy will be discussed as well as the possibility of investigating intermolecular collisions and atom-molecule exchange reactions.
[1] M. Mudrich et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 253001 (2002)
[2] S. D. Kraft et al., Phys. Rev. A 71, 013417 (2005); P. Staanum et al., arXiv:physics/0509123 (Phys. Rev. Lett. in press)