We present results of the study of a simultaneously confined metastable helium (He
∗) and rubidium magneto-optical trap (MOT). By monitoring the trap decay of the
87Rb MOT with and without a He
∗ MOT present, we find the light-assisted, two-body loss rate to be ${\ensuremath{\beta}}_{\mathrm{Rb}--{\mathrm{He}}^{*}}=(6\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2)\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{\ensuremath{-}10} {\mathrm{cm}}^{3}/\mathrm{s}$. Moreover, we find that it is possible to create a large, robust
87Rb-He
∗ MOT, opening the possibility of creating a
87Rb-He
∗ Bose-Einstein condensate. This would be the first dual-species condensate incorporating an alkali metal ground-state atom and an excited-state noble gas atom.
This work describes the design and construction of the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) apparatus at the University of Toronto. The aim of the experiment is to create a Bose-Einstein condensate out of a vapour cloud of 87Rb atoms using a combination of laser cooling, magnetic trapping and evaporative cooling. The design and construction of all of the constituent parts necessary for the realization of these techniques are described in this work. The apparatus consists of two magneto-optical traps (MOTs, whereby the atoms are collected from a background vapour into the first MOT, and then transferred into the second MOT, which is in a region of ultra-high vacuum (
This research was focused on the construction of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) to create a Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC) of 87Rb. The BEC is the coldest of the five states of matter functioning at a minuscule temperature of nanokelvin. A BEC is as close as we can get to absolute zero. Thus making it a valuable tool for researching the fundamental physics of quantum systems. Our setup utilizes both a high pressure and low-pressure MOT. The high-pressure MOT initiates the process with a high vapor density allowing for better Rb collection. The trapped atoms are then transported to the low-pressure MOT where there are no other atoms. Rb atoms are further cooled to a Bose-Einstein condensate temperature and are moved with more current-carrying coils to the glass BEC chamber. In the BEC chamber all Rb atoms are identical at their lowest quantum state. Although the process can be phrased in a few short sentences the setup and characterization of the entire system takes months to years of construction. # 43- 46 Environmental Fellows Program: Student Practicums