Abstract
We report measurement of inelastic loss in dense and cold metastable ytterbium (Yb[3P2]). Use of an optical far-off-resonance trap enables us to trap atoms in all magnetic sublevels, removing m-changing collisional trap loss from the system. Trapped samples of Yb[3P2] are produced at a density of 2 x 10(13) cm(-3) and temperature of 2 microK. We observe rapid two-body trap loss of Yb[3P2] and measure the inelastic collision rate constant 1.0(3) x 10(-11) cm3 s(-1). The existence of the fine-structure changing collisions between atoms in the 3P2 state is strongly suggested.
Highlights
There is increasing interest in ultracold two-electron atoms [1, 2], such as the alkaline earth metals (e.g. Ca and Sr) and Yb
Ca and Sr atoms decaying to the 3P2 state from the 1P1 state, which is the upper state in the 1S0↔1P1 magneto-optical trap (MOT) transition, have been successfully trapped in a magnetic trap [9]
In spite of successes of these approaches, evaporative cooling of 3P2 atoms in a magnetic trap to reach Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) turned out to be unsuccessful due to trap loss caused by strong multichannel collision processes [5]
Summary
There is increasing interest in ultracold two-electron atoms [1, 2], such as the alkaline earth metals (e.g. Ca and Sr) and Yb. We observe rapid two-body trap loss of Yb[3P2] and measure the inelastic collision rate constant 1.0(3)×10−11 cm3s−1. We report both the experimental realization of optical trapping (FORT) of ultracold 174Yb[3P2] atoms at high atom number density and the quantitative measurement of inelastic collisions.
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