arXiv:1607.06180 · New Journal of Physics
Collisional stability of localized Yb(3P2) atoms immersed in a Fermi sea of Li
Hideki Konishi, F. Schäfer, Shinya Ueda, Yoshiro Takahashi
Abstract
We establish an experimental method for a detailed investigation of inelastic collisional properties between ytterbium (Yb) in the metastable state and ground state lithium (Li). By combining an optical lattice and a direct excitation to the state we achieve high selectivity on the collisional partners. Using this method we determine inelastic loss coefficients in collisions between 174 Yb( ) with magnetic sublevels of m J = 0 and −2 and ground state 6 Li to be and , respectively. Absence of spin changing processes in Yb( )–Li inelastic collisions at low magnetic fields is confirmed by inelastic loss measurements on the m J = 0 state. We also demonstrate that our method allows us to look into loss processes in few-body systems separately.