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Physics World

Magnetic traps hit a new low

D. R. Meacher

Published Jul 1, 1995• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Lately there has been rapid progress in techniques for trapping samples of neutral atoms at elevated densities and extremely low temperatures. Now a group at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Boulder, Colorado, has used a new type of magnetic trap to confine rubidium atoms at the lowest kinetic temperature yet recorded for an atomic gas. Compelling motivations for this effort include the use of such ultra-cold gases in high-precision spectroscopy, low-energy tests of the "standard model" of particle physics, and studies of atomic collisions at very low relative velocities. Particularly exciting is the prospect of studying quantum collective phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation (p37).

DOI
10.1088/2058-7058/8/7/22

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Physics World•Aug 1, 1995•0 citations
Lately there has been rapid progress in techniques for trapping samples of neutral atoms at elevated densities and extremely low temperatures. Now a group at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Boulder, Colorado, has used a new type of magnetic trap to confine rubidium atoms at the lowest kinetic temperature yet recorded for an atomic gas. Compelling motivations for this effort include the use of such ultra-cold gases in high-precision spectroscopy, low-energy tests of the "standard model" of particle physics, and studies of atomic collisions at very low relative velocities. Particularly exciting is the prospect of studying quantum collective phenomena such as Bose-Einstein condensation (p37).
Abstract : The program is to slow, trap and cool neutral atoms. Laser light is used to slow and cool atoms and magnetic forces are used to trap them. Ultimately we hope to be able to trap atoms for days and cool them to temperatures on the order of .000001 K in addition to the interesting scientific and technical challenges involved in trapping and cooling atoms, we hope to open several new lines of investigation with these cooled atoms. Cold trapped atoms constitute a good system for studying collective phenomena such as Bose condensation, low energy - Na and Na - Na, and coherent optical effects (the deBrogile wavelength can exceed the optical wavelength). They also offer opportunities for performing ultra-high resolution spectroscopy and are extremely promising candidates for a new generation of frequency standards.
Magnetic trapping of laser-cooled neutral atoms has been demonstrated at NBS and is progressing in other laboratories. Confinement of any object requires exchanging kinetic for potential energy, and for neutral atoms, this necessarily derives from shifts of internal energy levels. This is implemented through the force experienced by the atomic magnetic moment in a carefully designed, highly inhomogeneous field. Since magnetic fields of convenient strength can shift atomic energy levels by only a few gigahertz (temperature ≌ 0.1 K), neutral atom traps are very shallow and must be loaded with very cold atoms. We present some motivations for using magnetic traps and then discuss the constraints and optimal configurations of various arrangements. For example, no trap can be isotropic. Next we discuss both the classical and quantum mechanical motions of trapped atoms. These motions are important for at least two reasons: First, several schemes under study for further cooling depend on knowing the position and velocity of the atoms, as well as the vector field at each point along the orbit. Second, magnetic traps depend on the atomic moment remaining aligned with the field as the atom orbits in the trap, and this precludes rapid motion through a low-field region.
Abstract : We have trapped large numbers of neutral atoms, and cooled them to millikelvin temperatures. Our next objective is to cool them to microkelvin temperatures. Dense samples of atoms cooled to microkelvin temperatures promise to open up new and exciting areas of physics. The lack of interaction of the low velocity atoms due to their reduced thermal motion, together with the possibility of indefinitely long interaction times, make samples of trapped atoms ideal for high resolution spectroscopy and for use as atomic frequency standards. Our main current effort in neutral atom trapping is cooling of trapped atoms to low temperatures. While this remains a difficult and elusive goal (to date, micro-kelvin temperatures have only been achieved with untrapped atoms), the rewards for supercooling trapped atoms appear to be high. The long confinement times, together with the reduced thermal motion of cold atoms, could result in a new era of ultra-high resolution spectroscopy and precise frequency standards. Potentially more exciting is the possibility of combining the high densities achievable in traps and the long deBroglie wavelength of ultra-cold atoms to observe novel quantum collective phenomena.
The recent developments in the study of Bose-Einstein condensation of neutral atoms are described. These studies aim to observe this phenomenon in a Bose gas where the quantum statistics of the particles, rather than the interactions between them, dominate the transition. The latest techniques use a combination of laser and evaporative cooling to get to the very low temperatures, in the nanokelvin regime, that are required to see condensation. In recent experiments at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics of the University Colorado and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Bose-condensed assemblies of rubidium atoms have been produced and their properties investigated. The relationship of this work to other phenomena in condensed matter and quantum field theory is discussed.
The phenomenon of Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC), first predicted by Einstein 70 years ago, has finally been observed in the laboratory. In this elusive state of matter the concept of individual particles ceases to have meaning: the atoms condense into the same quantum state and act as a single entity that displays quantum mechanical behaviour on a macroscopic scale. The condensate was observed when Eric Cornell, Carl Wieman and colleagues at the Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics in Boulder, Colorado, cooled a dilute gas of rubidium atoms, confined in a magnetic trap, to a temperature of just a few nanoKelvin (M H Anderson et al. 1995 Science 269 198).