We report on the observation of sympathetic cooling of a cloud of fermionic 6Li atoms which are thermally coupled to evaporatively cooled bosonic 87Rb. Using this technique we obtain a mixture of quantum-degenerate gases, where the Rb cloud is colder than the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation and the Li cloud is colder than the Fermi temperature. From measurements of the thermalization velocity we estimate the interspecies s-wave triplet scattering length |amx|=20(+9)(-6)aB. We found that the presence of residual rubidium atoms in the |2, 1> and the |1, -1> Zeeman substates gives rise to important losses due to inelastic collisions.
We report on the observation of sympathetic cooling of a cloud of fermionic 6Li atoms which are thermally coupled to evaporatively cooled bosonic 87Rb. Using this technique we obtain a mixture of quantum-degenerate gases, where the Rb cloud is colder than the critical temperature for Bose-Einstein condensation and the Li cloud is colder than the Fermi temperature. From measurements of the thermalization velocity we estimate the interspecies s-wave triplet scattering length |amx|=20(+9)(-6)aB. We found that the presence of residual rubidium atoms in the |2, 1> and the |1, -1> Zeeman substates gives rise to important losses due to inelastic collisions.
This thesis presents studies of quantum degenerate atomic gases of fermionic 6Li and bosonic 7Li. Degeneracy is reached by evaporative cooling of 7Li in a strongly confining magnetic trap. Since at low temperatures direct evaporative cooling is not possible for a polarized fermionic gas, 6Li is sympathetically cooled by thermal contact with 7Li. In a first series of experiments both isotopes are trapped in their low-field seeking higher hyperfine states. A Fermi degeneracy of is achieved for 105 fermions. For more than ~300 atoms, the 7Li condensate collapses, due to the attractive interatomic interaction in this state. This limits the degeneracy reached for both species. To overcome this limit, in a second series of experiments 7Li and 6Li atoms are transferred to their low field seeking lower hyperfine states, where the boson-boson interaction is repulsive but weak. The inter-isotope collisions are used to thermalize the mixture. A 7Li Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of 104 atoms immersed in a Fermi sea is produced. The BEC is quasi-one-dimensional and the thermal fraction can be negligible. The measured degeneracies are . The temperature is measured using the bosonic thermal fraction, which vanishes at the lowest temperatures, limiting our measurement sensitivity. In a third series of experiments, the bosons are transferred into an optical trap and their internal state is changed to , the lowest energy state. A Feshbach resonance is detected and used to produce a BEC with tunable atomic interactions. When the effective interaction between atoms is tuned to be small and attractive, we observe the formation of a matter-wave bright soliton. Propagation of the soliton without spreading over a macroscopic distance of 1.1~mm is observed.
Experimental methods of laser and evaporative cooling, used in the production of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates have recently been extended to realize quantum degeneracy in trapped Fermi gases. Fermi gases are a new rich system to explore the implications of Pauli exclusion on scattering properties of the system, and ultimately fermionic superfluidity. We have produced a new macroscopic quantum system, in which a degenerate Li-6 Fermi gas coexists with a large and stable Na-23 BEC. This was accomplished using inter-species sympathetic cooling of fermionic 6Li in a thermal bath of bosonic Na-23. We have achieved high numbers of both fermions (less than 10(exp 5) and bosons (less than 10(exp 6), and Li-6 quantum degeneracy corresponding to one half of the Fermi temperature. This is the first time that a Fermi sea was produced with a condensate as a "refrigerator".
We report on the generation of a quantum degenerate Fermi-Fermi mixture of two different atomic species. The quantum degenerate mixture is realized employing sympathetic cooling of fermionic 6Li and 40K gases by an evaporatively cooled bosonic 87Rb gas. We describe the combination of trapping and cooling methods that proved crucial to successfully cool the mixture. In particular, we study the last part of the cooling process and show that the efficiency of sympathetic cooling of the 6Li gas by 87Rb is increased by the presence of 40K through catalytic cooling. Because of the differing physical properties of the two components, the quantum degenerate 6Li-40K Fermi-Fermi mixture is an excellent candidate for a stable, heteronuclear system allowing the study of several so far unexplored types of quantum matter.
This thesis deals with dilute fermionic and bosonic quantum gases in the nK temperature regime.In the work presented here, the first quantum-degenerate mixture of two different fermionic atomic species and the first triple-degenerate Fermi-Fermi-Bose mixture were produced.The quantum-degenerate mixtures were realized using sympathetic cooling of the fermionic species 6 Li and 40 K by an evaporatively cooled gas of bosonic 87 Rb atoms in a magnetic trap.The apparatus, which was designed and built from scratch in this thesis work, provides a very versatile platform for a broad range of experiments.As the first important step in the production of the quantum-degenerate three-species mixture, simultaneous magneto-optical trapping of 6 Li, 40 K, and 87 Rb was achieved, thereby demonstrating the first three-species magneto-optical trap ("triple MOT") and the first two-fermion MOT.The triple MOT is loaded with lithium from a Zeeman slower and with potassium and rubidium from the background vapor that is maintained by atomic vapor dispensers.For this purpose, dispensers for potassium enriched in the isotope 40 K were produced.The triple MOT was characterized and studied with respect to light-assisted interspecies losses.Furthermore, a sequence combining a compressed MOT and a temporal dark MOT is presented that, in spite of the differing requirements of the three species, allows us to achieve favorable starting conditions for further cooling in the QUIC-type magnetic trap.A magnetic transport system is used to transfer the precooled atomic clouds from the MOT position into the QUIC trap.The transport scheme was adapted to the specific requirements of the three-species mixture, in particular to the temperature of laser-cooled lithium, which is high in comparison to other species.The quantum-degenerate regime is reached by evaporative and sympathetic cooling in the QUIC trap.Species-selective evaporation of rubidium is achieved by driving a 87 Rb hyperfine transition to an untrapped state.In order to avoid undesired atom losses and heating due to spin-exchange collisions, the atoms are prepared in the maximally polarized internal ground states.Careful state cleaning during the cooling process was found crucial to attain quantum degeneracy.Since evaporative and sympathetic cooling both rely on energy transfer by elastic collisions between atoms, the efficiency of the cooling process depends on the relevant elastic scattering cross sections.The 87 Rb-87 Rb and 40 K-87 Rb scattering cross sections are quite favorable for this purpose.The 6 Li-87 Rb scattering cross section, however, was unknown at the beginning of the project and was later found to be comparatively small, making sympathetic cooling of 6 Li by 87 Rb rather challenging.In this thesis work, an experimental sequence was developed that nevertheless allows the production of a quantum-degenerate 6 Li gas with large atom number in this mixture.Furthermore, it is shown that in the three-species mixture, the efficiency of the cooling process for 6 Li is significantly increased by the presence of 40 K through catalytic cooling.The quantum-degenerate Fermi-Fermi and Fermi-Fermi-Bose mixtures realized in this thesis work serve as a starting point for a broad range of possible future experiments, including the creation of heteronuclear Fermi-Fermi dimers and the investigation of the BEC-BCS cross-over regime.In this context, the possibilities opened by the mass difference and the differing internal structures of the two fermionic species are of particular interest.v Zusammenfassung Die vorliegende Arbeit befaßt sich mit verdünnten fermionischen und bosonischen Quantengasen im nK-Temperaturbereich. Im Rahmen der Arbeit wurden sowohl die erste quantenentartete Mischung zweier verschiedener fermionischer Atomspezies als auch die erste dreifach entartete Fermi-Fermi-Bose-Mischung erzeugt.Die quantenentarteten Mischungen wurden durch sympathetisches Kühlen der fermionischen Spezies 6 Li and 40 K mit einem mittels Verdampfungskühlung aktiv gekühlten Gas bosonischer 87 Rb-Atome in einer Magnetfalle realisiert.Die Apparatur, die hierfür in dieser Arbeit entworfen und von Grund auf aufgebaut wurde, bietet eine äußerst vielseitige Plattform für ein breites Spektrum an Experimenten.Als erster wichtiger Schritt für die Produktion der quantenentarteten Drei-Spezies-Mischung konnten 6 Li, 40 K und 87 Rb simultan magneto-optisch gefangen werden.Dies stellt die erste Realisierung einer magneto-optischen Falle für drei Spezies ("Dreifach-MOT") und einer MOT für zwei fermionische Spezies dar.Die Dreifach-MOT wird mit Lithium aus einem Zeeman-Abbremser und mit Rubidium und Kalium aus dem Hintergrund-Gas geladen, das durch Atomgas-Dispenser aufrechterhalten wird.Zu diesem Zweck wurden Dispenser mit im Isotop 40 K angereichertem Kalium hergestellt.Die Dreifach-MOT wurde charakterisiert und bezüglich lichtunterstützter Interspezies-Verluste studiert.Desweiteren wird eine aus einer komprimierten MOT und einer zeitlichen Dunkel-MOT kombinierte Sequenz vorgestellt, die es ermöglicht, trotz der sich unterscheidenden Anforderungen der drei Atomsorten günstige Ausgangsbedingungen für das folgende Kühlen in der QUIC-Magnetfalle zu erzielen.Für den Transfer der vorgekühlten Atome von der MOT-Position in die QUIC-Falle wird ein magnetisches Transport-System verwendet.Das Transport-Schema wurde an die besonderen Anforderungen der Drei-Spezies-Mischung angepaßt, insbesondere auch an die im Vergleich zu anderen Spezies hohe Temperatur von lasergekühltem Lithium.Das quantenentartete Regime wird durch Verdampfungskühlung und sympathetisches Kühlen in der QUIC-Falle erreicht.Speziesselektive Verdampfungskühlung von Rubidium wird durch Treiben eines 87 Rb-Hyperfein-Übergangs in einen ungefangenen Zustand erzielt.Um unerwünschte Atomzahlverluste und Heizen durch Spinaustausch-Stöße zu verhindern, sind die Atome in den maximal polarisierten Grundzuständen präpariert.Eine sorgfältige Zustandsreinigung während des Kühlprozesses hat sich als entscheidend zum Erreichen der Quantenentartung erwiesen.Da sowohl Verdampfungskühlung als auch sympathetisches Kühlen auf Energieübertragung durch elastische Stöße zwischen den Atomen beruhen, hängt die Effizienz des Kühlprozesses von den relevanten elastischen Streuquerschnitten ab.Die Streuquerschnitte für 87 Rb-87 Rb-und 40 K-87 Rb-Stöße sind hierfür recht günstig.Der 6 Li-87 Rb-Streuquerschnitt hingegen war zu Beginn des Projektes noch unbekannt und stellte sich später als vergleichsweise klein heraus, so dass sympathetisches Kühlen von 6 Li durch 87 Rb erheblich erschwert ist.In dieser Arbeit konnte jedoch eine experimentelle Sequenz entwickelt werden, die in dieser Mischung trotzdem die Erzeugung eines quantenentarteten 6 Li-Gases mit großer Atomzahl gestattet.Desweiteren wird gezeigt, dass die Kühleffizienz für 6 Li in der Drei-Spezies-Mischung durch die Anwesenheit von 40 K aufgrund von katalytischem Kühlen signifikant erhöht ist.Die im Rahmen dieser Arbeit erzeugten quantenentarteten Fermi-Fermi-und Fermi-Fermi-Bose-Mischungen dienen als Startpunkt für ein breites Spektrum möglicher zukünftiger Experimente, wie beispielsweise der Erzeugung heteronuklearer Fermi-Fermi-Dimere oder der Erforschung des BEC-BCS-Übergangs.Besonders interessant sind dabei die Möglichkeiten, die sich durch die Massendifferenz und die unterschiedlichen internen Strukturen der zwei fermionischen Spezies ergeben.viii
We have produced a quantum degenerate mixture of fermionic alkali-metal 6Li and bosonic spin-singlet 174Yb gases. This was achieved using sympathetic cooling of lithium atoms by evaporatively cooled ytterbium atoms in a far-off-resonant optical dipole trap. We observe the coexistence of Bose-condensed ($T/{T}_{\mathrm{c}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.8$) 174Yb with $2.3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ atoms and Fermi degenerate ($T/{T}_{\mathrm{F}}\ensuremath{\simeq}0.3$) 6Li with $1.2\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ atoms. Quasipure Bose-Einstein condensates of up to $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{4}$ 174Yb atoms can be produced in single-species experiments. Our results mark a significant step toward studies of few- and many-body physics with mixtures of alkali-metal and alkaline-earth-metal-like atoms, and for the production of paramagnetic polar molecules in the quantum regime. Our methods also establish a convenient scheme for producing quantum degenerate ytterbium atoms in a 1064 nm optical dipole trap.
The work described in this thesis can be divided into two parts. The first part is concerned with the production of degenerate Fermi gases and Bose-Fermi mixtures. The second part of the thesis describes studies of strongly interacting spin-mixtures of ultracold fermions. We have cooled a magnetically trapped spin-polarized 6Li Fermi gas into quantum degeneracy by sympathetic cooling with bosonic 23Na. In order to do this, we have converted our previously developed apparatus for Bose-Einstein condensation of 23Na into a two-species cooling facility. We have produced 6Li samples with up to 7 × 107 atoms at temperatures below 0.5TF , and up to 3× 107 atoms at temperatures as low as 0.05TF . Further, we have also produced stable quantum degenerate mixtures of 23Na and 6Li, with several million atoms of each species. In a second set of experiments, we have studied strongly interacting spin-mixtures of 6Li. The strength of interactions was resonantly controlled by applying a magnetic field and tuning to “Feshbach resonances”, which occur when the total energy of the colliding particles coincides with the energy of a bound molecular state. These studies are relevant for the continuing quest for a superfluid transition in a Fermi gas. By studying the inelastic decay of the cloud, we have experimentally identified two Feshbach resonances for the inter-state interactions of the two lowest ground states of 6Li. Most importantly, we found that the lifetime of the strongly interacting system is long enough to observe a superfluid transition in the future. The effects of the coherent collisions in 6Li spin-mixtures were studied using radiofrequency (RF) spectroscopy. We demonstrated the absence of mean field “clock shifts” in a two-state mixture of fermions, and have introduced a three-level method to observe the interaction energy shifts. In the strongly interacting regime, near a Feshbach resonance, we have observed universal behavior of the interaction energy, independent of the value of the scattering length. Finally, we have theoretically studied the effects of Pauli blocking during a free expansion of a degenerate Fermi gas. We have concluded that a strongly interacting normal gas will undergo a hydrodynamic expansion even at zero temperature, due to inefficiency of the Pauli suppression of collisions. Therefore, the already observed hydrodynamic expansion cannot be conclusively interpreted as a signature of superfluidity. Thesis Supervisor: Wolfgang Ketterle Title: John D. MacArthur Professor of Physics