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Q: Fachverband Quantenoptik und Photonik
Q 51: Ultracold Atoms I
Q 51.7: Talk
Thursday, March 9, 2017, 16:15–16:30, P 104
The PRIMUS-Project; an optical dipole trap under microgravity — •Christian Vogt1, Sascha Kulas1,2, Andreas Resch1, Sven Herrmann1, Claus Lämmerzahl1, and the PRIMUS-Team1,3 — 1ZARM, Universität Bremen — 2JPL, Pasadena, USA — 3Institut für Quantenoptik, LU Hannover
Matter wave interferometry in microgravity offers the potential of largely extended interferometry times and thus precision measurements with much increased sensitivity. Motivated by this prospect, a large effort is currently underway to advance the necessary technology and perform first such atom optical experiments on microgravity platforms such as drop towers, zero-g airplanes or sounding rockets. The QUANTUS collaboration has thereby established a magnetic chip trap as a compact and efficient source of matterwaves for such microgravity cold atom experiments. Within the PRIMUS experiment we pursue another approach and set up an optical dipole trap as an alternative source for matter wave interferometry in microgravity. While this comes with additional technical challenges, it also offers several benefits, such as the possible application of Feshbach resonances, improved harmonicity of the trap or the trapping of all mF states. To implement the dipole trap we use a high power laser at 1960nm wavelength and load atoms directly from a Rb magneto optical trap. Here we will report on the current status and first results from the project. The PRIMUS project is supported by the German Space Agency DLR with funds provided by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology (BMWi) under grant number DLR 50 WM 1642.