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Physical Review Letters

Buffer-Gas Cooled Bose-Einstein Condensate

S. Charles Doret, Colin B. Connolly, Wolfgang Ketterle, John M. Doyle

Published Sep 3, 2009• 51 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We report the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate using buffer-gas cooling, the first realization of Bose-Einstein condensation using a broadly general method which relies neither on laser cooling nor unique atom-surface properties. Metastable helium ((4)He*) is buffer-gas cooled, magnetically trapped, and evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy. 10(11) atoms are initially trapped, leading to Bose-Einstein condensation at a critical temperature of 5 microK and threshold atom number of 1.1 x 10(6). This method is applicable to a wide array of paramagnetic atoms and molecules, many of which are impractical to laser cool and impossible to surface cool.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.103.103005

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We report the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate using buffer-gas cooling, the first realization of Bose-Einstein condensation using a broadly general method which relies neither on laser cooling nor unique atom-surface properties. Metastable helium ((4)He*) is buffer-gas cooled, magnetically trapped, and evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy. 10(11) atoms are initially trapped, leading to Bose-Einstein condensation at a critical temperature of 5 microK and threshold atom number of 1.1 x 10(6). This method is applicable to a wide array of paramagnetic atoms and molecules, many of which are impractical to laser cool and impossible to surface cool.
We report the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate using buffer-gas cooling, the first realization of Bose-Einstein condensation using a broadly general method which relies neither on laser cooling nor unique atom-surface properties. Metastable helium (\\(^4\\)He*) is buffer-gas cooled, magnetically trapped, and evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy. 10\\(^{11}\\) atoms are initially trapped, leading to Bose-Einstein condensation at a critical temperature of \\(5 \\mu K\\) and threshold atom number of 1.1×10\\(^6\\). This method is applicable to a wide array of paramagnetic atoms and molecules, many of which are impractical to laser cool and impossible to surface cool.
We report the creation of a Bose-Einstein condensate using buffer-gas cooling, the first realization of Bose-Einstein condensation using a broadly general method which relies neither on laser cooling nor unique atom-surface properties. Metastable helium ([superscript 4]He[superscript *]) is buffer-gas cooled, magnetically trapped, and evaporatively cooled to quantum degeneracy. 10[superscript 11] atoms are initially trapped, leading to Bose-Einstein condensation at a critical temperature of 5 μK and threshold atom number of 1.1×10 [superscript 6]. This method is applicable to a wide array of paramagnetic atoms and molecules, many of which are impractical to laser cool and impossible to surface cool.
Bose–Einstein condensation in a gas has now been achieved. Atoms are cooled to the point of condensation using laser cooling and trapping, followed by magnetic trapping and evaporative cooling. These techniques are explained, as well as the techniques by which we observe the cold atom samples. Three different signatures of Bose–Einstein condensation are described. A number of properties of the condensate, including collective excitations, distortions of the wave function by interactions, and the fraction of atoms in the condensate versus temperature, have also been measured.
This article first provides guide lines for the understanding of laser cooling and Bose Einstein Condensation, with a general bibliography of the domain. Some details are given about the case of an ultracold gas of helium atoms in the 23S1 metastable state. Obtention of BEC will be recalled, with discussion of the inhibition of Penning ionization collisions. Recent studies at ENS with photoassociation methods will be summarized, including the formation of giant dimers providing another example of ionization inhibition.
We report the realization of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) of metastable helium atoms using an in-vacuum coil magnetic trap and a crossed-beam optical dipole trap. A quadrupole-Ioffe configuration magnetic trap made from in-vacuum hollow copper tubes provides fast switching times while generating traps with a 10-G bias, without compromising optical access. The bias enables in-trap one-dimensional Doppler cooling to be used, which is the only cooling stage between the magneto-optic trap and the optical dipole trap. This allows direct transfer to the dipole trap without the need for any additional evaporative cooling in the magnetic trap. The entire experimental sequence takes 3.3 s, with essentially pure BECs observed with $\ensuremath{\sim}{10}^{6}$ atoms after evaporative cooling in the dipole trap.