Heidelberg 2015 – scientific programme

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A: Fachverband Atomphysik

A 23: Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC IV (with Q)

A 23.6: Talk

Wednesday, March 25, 2015, 15:45–16:00, C/HSW

Bose-Einstein Condensation of Dysprosium — •Matthias Schmitt, Thomas Maier, Holger Kadau, Matthias Wenzel, Clarissa Wink, Axel Griesmaier, and Tilman Pfau — 5. Physikalisches Institut, Universität Stuttgart, Pfaffenwaldring 57, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

Strongly dipolar quantum gases enable the observation of many-body phenomena with anisotropic, long-range interaction. The element with the strongest magnetic dipole moment is dysprosium. It is a rare-earth element with a complex energy level structure with several possible cooling transitions. We have prepared samples of dysprosium atoms at 10 µK in a magneto-optical trap by laser cooling on a narrow transition at 626 nm. We load these cooled atoms into an optical dipole trap and transport them to a glass cell with high optical access. To finally reach quantum degeneracy we perform evaporative cooling in a crossed optical dipole trap. We create a BEC with up to N=20000 atoms at a critical temperature of 100 nK.
Additionally, we perform a trap-loss spectroscopy and observe Fano-Feshbach resonances within a magnetic field range of 70 G. We study quantum chaotic behaviour similar to investigations done with erbium atoms [1] and observe the onset of quantum chaos as a function of magnetic field.

A. Frisch et al., Nature 507, 475-479 (2014)