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arXiv:1105.5751 · Physical Review A

Quantum degenerate mixture of ytterbium and lithium atoms

Anders H. Hansen, Alexander Y. Khramov, William H. Dowd, Alan O. Jamison, V. V. Ivanov, Subhadeep Gupta

Published Jul 22, 2011• 83 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We have produced a quantum degenerate mixture of fermionic alkali-metal ${}^{6}$Li and bosonic spin-singlet ${}^{174}$Yb gases. This was achieved using sympathetic cooling of lithium atoms by evaporatively cooled ytterbium atoms in a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap. We observe the coexistence of Bose-condensed ($T/{T}_{\mathrm{c}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.8$) ${}^{174}$Yb with $2.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ atoms and Fermi degenerate ($T/{T}_{\mathrm{F}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.3$) ${}^{6}$Li with $1.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ atoms. Quasipure Bose-Einstein condensates of up to $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ ${}^{174}$Yb atoms can be produced in single-species experiments. Our results mark a significant step toward studies of few- and many-body physics with mixtures of alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms, and for the production of paramagnetic polar molecules in the quantum regime. Our methods also establish a convenient scheme for producing quantum degenerate ytterbium atoms in a 1064 nm optical dipole trap.

DOI
10.1103/physreva.84.011606

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We have produced a quantum degenerate mixture of fermionic alkali-metal 6{}^{6}6Li and bosonic spin-singlet 174{}^{174}174Yb gases. This was achieved using sympathetic cooling of lithium atoms by evaporatively cooled ytterbium atoms in a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap. We observe the coexistence of Bose-condensed (T/Tc\ensuremath≃0.8T/{T}_{\mathrm{c}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.8T/Tc​\ensuremath≃0.8) 174{}^{174}174Yb with 2.3\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1042.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}2.3\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi104 atoms and Fermi degenerate (T/TF\ensuremath≃0.3T/{T}_{\mathrm{F}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.3T/TF​\ensuremath≃0.3) 6{}^{6}6Li with 1.2\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1041.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}1.2\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi104 atoms. Quasipure Bose-Einstein condensates of up to 3\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi1043\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}3\ifmmode×\else\texttimes\fi104 174{}^{174}174Yb atoms can be produced in single-species experiments. Our results mark a significant step toward studies of few- and many-body physics with mixtures of alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms, and for the production of paramagnetic polar molecules in the quantum regime. Our methods also establish a convenient scheme for producing quantum degenerate ytterbium atoms in a 1064 nm optical dipole trap.
The authors report the production of a quantum degenerate mixture of alkali-metal 6{}^{6}6Li and alkaline-earth-metal 84{}^{84}84Sr atoms in a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap. The results could pave the way for studying lithium-strontium polar molecules.
We realize simultaneous quantum degeneracy in mixtures consisting of the alkali and alkaline-earth-like atoms Li and Yb. This is accomplished within an optical trap by sympathetic cooling of the fermionic isotope 6Li^{6}\mathrm{Li}6Li with evaporatively cooled bosonic 174Yb^{174}\mathrm{Yb}174Yb and, separately, fermionic 173Yb^{173}\mathrm{Yb}173Yb. Using cross-thermalization studies, we also measure the elastic sss-wave scattering lengths of both Li-Yb combinations, $|{a}_{^{6}\mathrm{Li}\ensuremath{-}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}}|=1.0\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nm}$ and $|{a}_{^{6}\mathrm{Li}\ensuremath{-}^{173}\mathrm{Yb}}|=0.9\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.2\text{ }\text{ }\mathrm{nm}$. The equality of these lengths is found to be consistent with mass-scaling analysis. The quantum degenerate mixtures of Li and Yb, as realized here, can be the basis for creation of ultracold molecules with electron spin degrees of freedom, studies of novel Efimov trimers, and impurity probes of superfluid systems.
An admixture of 87{}^{87}87Rb and 171{}^{171}171Yb atoms is prepared and cooled down to quantum degeneracy in a hybrid optical dipole trap independently tunable for both atomic species, which makes experimentalists ready to explore intriguing quantum phenomena such as the behavior of polarons on a lattice with alkali-metal--alkaline-earth-metal mixtures.
We describe in detail our recent experiments on quantum degenerate gases of ytterbium (Yb) atoms. Up to now Bose–Einstein condensates of 174 Yb and 170 Yb, and a Fermi degenerate gas of 173 Yb have been realized by efficient evaporative cooling in a crossed far-off resonant trap. Our studies showed that the efficient escape from the trap and rapid thermalization are important for efficient evaporative cooling. We also describe some recent experiments using Yb Bose–Einstein condensates such as the achievement of a scalar atom laser, the observation of an optical coherent transient, and successful loading into an optical lattice. Finally, the future prospects using Yb quantum degenerate gases are discussed in detail.
Experimental methods of laser and evaporative cooling, used in the production of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates have recently been extended to realize quantum degeneracy in trapped Fermi gases. Fermi gases are a new rich system to explore the implications of Pauli exclusion on scattering properties of the system, and ultimately fermionic superfluidity. We have produced a new macroscopic quantum system, in which a degenerate Li-6 Fermi gas coexists with a large and stable Na-23 BEC. This was accomplished using inter-species sympathetic cooling of fermionic 6Li in a thermal bath of bosonic Na-23. We have achieved high numbers of both fermions (less than 10(exp 5) and bosons (less than 10(exp 6), and Li-6 quantum degeneracy corresponding to one half of the Fermi temperature. This is the first time that a Fermi sea was produced with a condensate as a "refrigerator".
We report the realization of quantum degenerate mixed gases of ytterbium (Yb) isotopes using all-optical methods. We have succeeded in cooling attractively interacting 176Yb^{176}\mathrm{Yb}176Yb atoms via sympathetic cooling down to below the Bose-Einstein transition temperature, coexisting with a stable condensate of 174Yb^{174}\mathrm{Yb}174Yb atoms with a repulsive interaction. We have observed a rapid atom loss in 176Yb^{176}\mathrm{Yb}176Yb atoms after cooling down below the transition temperature, which indicates the collapse of a 176Yb^{176}\mathrm{Yb}176Yb condensate. The sympathetic cooling technique has been applied to cool a $^{173}\mathrm{Yb}\text{\ensuremath{-}}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ Fermi-Bose mixture to the quantum degenerate regime.