Hannover 2010 – scientific programme
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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 16: Quantum Gases: Interaction Effects I
Q 16.3: Talk
Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 14:45–15:00, E 001
Multi-isotope trapping of metastable neon — •Jan Schütz, Thomas Feldker, Holger John, and Gerhard Birkl — Institut für Angewandte Physik, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schlossgartenstraße 7, 64289 Darmstadt
We investigate the interactions of laser cooled metastable neon (Ne*) in the 3P2 state in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and magnetic trap. Recent modifications of our setup enable us to trap all two-isotope combinations of bosonic 20Ne, bosonic 22Ne, and fermionic 21Ne.
The most remarkable feature of Ne* is its extraordinary high internal energy which exceeds half of its ionization energy. This, on the one hand, leads to extremely high two-body losses due to Penning ionization but, on the other hand, allows for very sensitive detection of ions and metastables using electron multipliers. This serves as a direct probe for inelastic collisions and should enable us to gain a close insight into the inter-isotopic collision processes.
One objective is to determine the inter-isotopic collision cross sections which, if favorable, could open up new possibilities to create quantum degenerate bosonic or fermionic Ne*. Another goal is to create a dense, cold, spin-polarized sample of fermionic 21Ne since reduction of the ion production would present a direct observation of Pauli blocking. We report on the status of the experiment.