Simple method for producing Bose–Einstein condensates of metastable helium using a single-beam optical dipole trap

5Citations
Citations of this article
15Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

This article is free to access.

Abstract

We demonstrate a simple scheme to reach Bose–Einstein condensation (BEC) of metastable triplet helium atoms using a single-beam optical dipole trap with moderate power of less than 3 W. Our scheme is based on RF-induced evaporative cooling in a quadrupole magnetic trap and transfer to a single-beam optical dipole trap that is located below the magnetic trap center. We transfer 1×106 atoms into the optical dipole trap, with an initial temperature of 14μK, and observe efficient forced evaporative cooling both in a hybrid trap, in which the quadrupole magnetic trap operates just below the levitation gradient, and in the pure optical dipole trap, reaching the onset of BEC with 2×105 atoms and a pure BEC of 5×104 atoms. Our work shows that a single-beam hybrid trap can be applied for a light atom, for which evaporative cooling in the quadrupole magnetic trap is strongly limited by Majorana spin-flips, and the very small levitation gradient limits the axial confinement in the hybrid trap.

References Powered by Scopus

Stable, tightly confining magnetic trap for evaporative cooling of neutral atoms

457Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Comparison of the Hanbury Brown-Twiss effect for bosons and fermions

320Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Bose-Einstein condensation of metastable helium

306Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Cited by Powered by Scopus

A simple 2 W continuous-wave laser system for trapping ultracold metastable helium atoms at the 319.8 nm magic wavelength

16Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Production of large Bose-Einstein condensates in a magnetic-shield-compatible hybrid trap

13Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Quantum-state-controlled Penning-ionization reactions between ultracold alkali-metal and metastable helium atoms

8Citations
N/AReaders
Get full text

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Flores, A. S., Mishra, H. P., Vassen, W., & Knoop, S. (2015). Simple method for producing Bose–Einstein condensates of metastable helium using a single-beam optical dipole trap. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics, 121(3), 391–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-015-6243-5

Readers' Seniority

Tooltip

Researcher 5

45%

PhD / Post grad / Masters / Doc 3

27%

Professor / Associate Prof. 2

18%

Lecturer / Post doc 1

9%

Readers' Discipline

Tooltip

Physics and Astronomy 11

92%

Engineering 1

8%

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free