Düsseldorf 2007 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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A: Fachverband Atomphysik
A 14: Poster I - Ultra-cold atoms, ions and BEC
A 14.8: Poster
Dienstag, 20. März 2007, 16:30–18:30, Poster B
An electrodynamic trap for neutral atoms — •Sophie Schlunk1,2, Adela Marian1, Allard Mosk3, Peter Geng1, Wieland Schöllkopf1, and Gerard Meijer1 — 1Fritz-Haber-Institut, Berlin, Germany — 2FOM-Institute for Plasmaphysics Rijnhuizen, Nieuwegein, The Netherlands — 3University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands
We are implementing an AC electric trap for atoms, which has been proposed by Peik [Eur. Phys. J. D 6, 179 (1999)]. The predicted potential-well depths for Rb atoms are on the order of 15 µK. It has been shown that polar molecules can be trapped in such an AC electric trap [PRA 74, 063403 (2006)]. Electrodynamic trapping of Sr atoms has also been demonstrated on an atom chip [PRL 96, 123001 (2006)].
The basic idea behind our AC trap is to create an electric field configuration that has a saddle point of constant field strength at the center of the trap and slopes of opposite signs in the axial and radial directions. Switching between the two electric field configurations gives confinement in 3D, by generating an alternately focusing and defocusing force in each direction.
In the experiment, the Rb atoms are cooled in a standard MOT loaded from a Zeeman slower. After loading the atoms in a magnetic trap, a density on the order of 1011 atoms/cm3 and a temperature of about 100 µK are measured. Next, the cold Rb cloud is transferred to a second vacuum chamber by physically moving the magnetic trap. This second vacuum chamber houses the AC trap.
At the meeting we will report on our latest results.