Darmstadt 2008 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 50: Poster Ultrakalte Atome
Q 50.25: Poster
Thursday, March 13, 2008, 16:30–19:00, Poster C2
A freely falling magneto-optical trap drop tower experiment — •Thorben Könemann1, Hansjörg Dittus1, Tim van Zoest2, Ernst Maria Rasel2, Wolfgang Ertmer2, Wojciech Lewoczko-Adamczyk3, Achim Peters3, Anika Vogel4, Kai Bongs4, Klaus Sengstock4, Endre Kajari5, Reinhold Walser5, and Wolfgang Peter Schleich5 — 1ZARM, University of Bremen — 2IQO, Leibniz University of Hanover — 3QOM, Humboldt-University of Berlin — 4Institute of Laser-Physics, University of Hamburg — 5Institute of Quantum Physics, University of Hamburg
We experimentally demonstrate the possibility of preparing ultracold atoms in the environment of weightlessness at the earth-bound short-term microgravity laboratory Drop Tower Bremen. Our approach is based on a freely falling magneto-optical trap (MOT) drop tower experiment performed within the ATKAT collaboration (Atom-Catapult) as a preliminary part of the QUANTUS pilot project (Quantum Systems in Weightlessness) pursuing a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) in microgravity at the drop tower. We give a complete account of the specific drop tower requirements and present the results of the realized freely falling MOT and further accomplished experiments during several drops.