Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 18: Poster: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC (with Q)

A 18.2: Poster

Tuesday, March 24, 2015, 17:00–19:00, C/Foyer

Realizing a hybrid atom-ion trap for Li and Yb⁺ — •Jannis Joger, Henning Fürst, Norman Ewald, and Rene Gerritsma — Institut für Physik, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, D-55099 Mainz, Germany

Mixtures of ultracold atomic gases and trapped ions have become a promising application for studying cold chemistry, ultra-cold collisions and quantum many-body physics [1]. Recent analysis has shown that the time-dependent trapping field of the Paul trap can cause heating in these systems. One proposed way to mitigate this problem is to employ ion-atom combinations with a large mass ratio [2]. The highest convenient mass ratio - for species that still allow for straightforward laser cooling - is ∼29, and is achieved by using the combination Yb⁺ and Li. Combining ultracold Li atoms with trapped ions poses particular technical challenges. Also the application of different sub-Doppler cooling techniques for Li such as gray molasses [3] is of particular importance to produce a dense gas in the deep quantum regime. We present a hybrid atom-ion experiment for Yb⁺ and Li that we are currently building up. We discuss the magnetic field coils, ion trap and dipole trap, as well as the Zeeman slower and atomic loading platform. We also introduce a two-ion-atom detector we plan to implement in the experiment.

[1] A. Härter and J. Hecker Denschlag, Contemporary Physics 55, 33 (2014)

[2] M. Cetina et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 253201 (2012)

[3] A. Grier et al., Phys. Rev. A 87, 063411 (2013)