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Physical Review A

Trapping an isotopic mixture of fermionic 84Rb and bosonic 87Rb atoms

S. G. Crane, Xinxin Zhao, Wayne A. Taylor, David J. Vieira

Published Jun 13, 2000• 26 citations

Abstract

We have simultaneously confined fermionic ${}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}$ and bosonic ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms in overlapping magneto-optical traps in which radioactive ${}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms ${(t}_{1/2}=33$ d) have been trapped. We investigated ${}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}$ trap loss when overlapped with a cloud of ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms trapped from a background rubidium vapor. Collision loss measurements were taken with $\ensuremath{\sim}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}$ and $\ensuremath{\sim}4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ atoms of trapped ${}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}$ and ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb},$ respectively. We have found a trapping solution for which there is negligible additional trap loss for ${}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}$ due to the presence of ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb},$ showing that the mixture can be readily prepared for a sympathetic cooling experiment.

DOI: 10.1103/physreva.62.011402

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We have simultaneously confined fermionic

{}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}

and bosonic

{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}

atoms in overlapping magneto-optical traps in which radioactive

{}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}

atoms

{(t}_{1/2}=33

d) have been trapped. We investigated

{}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}

trap loss when overlapped with a cloud of

{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}

atoms trapped from a background rubidium vapor. Collision loss measurements were taken with

\ensuremath{\sim}5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{5}

and

\ensuremath{\sim}4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}

atoms of trapped

{}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}

and

{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb},

respectively. We have found a trapping solution for which there is negligible additional trap loss for

{}^{84}\mathrm{Rb}

due to the presence of

{}^{87}\mathrm{Rb},

showing that the mixture can be readily prepared for a sympathetic cooling experiment.

We investigate sympathetic cooling fermions 40 K by evaporatively cooling bosonic 87 Rb atoms in a magnetic trap with microwave and radio frequency induced evaporations in detail. The mixture of bosonic and fermionic atoms is prepared in their polarized spin states | F = 9/2, m F = 9/2〉 for 40 K and | F = 2, m F = 2〉 for 87 Rb, which is trapped in Quadrupole—Ioffe—Configuration trap. Comparing microwave with radio frequency evaporatively cooling bosonic 87 Rb atoms with sympathetically cooling Fermi gas 40 K, we find that the presence of rubidium atoms in the |2, 1〉 Zeeman states, which are generated in the evaporative process, gives rise to a significant loss of 40 K due to inelastic collisions. Thus, the rubidium atoms populated in the |2, 1〉 Zeeman states should be removed in order to effectively perform sympathetically cooling 40 K with the evaporatively cooled 87 Rb atoms.

We realize a combined trap for bosonic chromium (52Cr) and rubidium (87Rb) atoms. Initial experiments focus on exploring a suitable loading scheme for the combined trap and on studies of new trap loss mechanisms originating from simultaneous trapping of two species. By comparing the trap loss from the 87Rb magneto-optical trap (MOT) in the absence and presence of magnetically trapped ground state 52Cr atoms we determine the scattering cross-section of σ inel,RbCr = 5.0 ± 4.0 × 10−18 m2 for light-induced inelastic collisions between the two species. Studying the trap loss from the Rb magneto-optical trap induced by the Cr cooling-laser light, the photoionization cross-section of the excited 5P3/1 state at an ionizing wavelength of 426 nm is measured to be σ P = 1.1 ± 0.3 × 10−21 m2.

We simultaneously confine fermionic metastable

^{3}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}

atoms and bosonic metastable

^{4}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}

atoms in a magneto-optical trap. The trapped clouds, containing up to $1.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}$ atoms of each isotope, are characterized by measuring ions and metastable helium atoms escaping from the trap. Optical pumping of

^{3}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}

atoms to a nontrapped hyperfine state is investigated and it is shown that large atom numbers can be confined without additional repumping lasers. Unique possibilities for quantum degeneracy experiments with mixtures of spin-polarized metastable

^{3}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}

and

^{4}\mathrm{H}\mathrm{e}

atoms are indicated.

We report on the simultaneous trapping of two fermionic species,

^{6}\mathrm{Li}

and

^{40}\mathrm{K}

, and a bosonic species,

^{87}\mathrm{Rb}

, demonstrating the first three-species magneto-optical trap (``triple MOT''). The apparatus including the atom sources and the three laser systems is described, and the single-species MOTs and the triple MOT are characterized. In triple MOT operation, typical atom numbers of $3.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ for

^{6}\mathrm{Li}

, $1.5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{7}$ for

^{40}\mathrm{K}

, and $5.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$ for

^{87}\mathrm{Rb}

were achieved. Trap loss due to interspecies collisions was observed. We describe our way to optimize the triple MOT and turn it into a suitable source for the goal to achieve quantum degeneracy by evaporative and sympathetic cooling.

We confine $4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}$ fermionic

{}^{6}\mathrm{Li}

atoms simultaneously with $9\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$ bosonic

{}^{7}\mathrm{Li}

atoms in a magneto-optical trap based on an all-semiconductor laser system. We optimize the two-isotope sample for sympathetic evaporative cooling. This is an essential step towards the production of a quantum-degenerate gas of fermionic lithium atoms.