Optical Traps for Sympathetic Cooling of Ions with Ultracold Neutral Atoms
Julian Schmidt, Pascal Weckesser, Fabian Thielemann, Tobias Schaetz, Leon Karpa
Abstract
We report the trapping of ultracold neutral Rb atoms and Ba^{+} ions in a common optical potential in absence of any radio frequency (rf) fields. We prepare Ba^{+} at 370 μK and demonstrate efficient sympathetic cooling by 100 μK after one collision. Our approach is currently limited by the Rb density and related three-body losses, but it overcomes the fundamental limitation in rf traps set by rf-driven, micromotion-induced heating. It is applicable to a wide range of ion-atom species, and may enable novel ultracold chemistry experiments and complex many-body dynamics.
Topics & Concepts
PhysicsUltracold atomIonEnergetic neutral atomAtomic physicsTrappingAtom (system on chip)Range (aeronautics)Materials scienceQuantum mechanicsQuantumEcologyEmbedded systemComposite materialComputer scienceBiologyCold Atom Physics and Bose-Einstein CondensatesAdvanced Frequency and Time StandardsQuantum Information and Cryptography