Sub-Doppler laser cooling of fermionic 40K atoms
Abstract
We report laser cooling of fermionic 40K atoms, with temperatures down to (15+/-5) μK, for an enriched sample trapped in a magneto-optical trap and additionaly cooled in optical molasses. This temperature is a factor of 10 below the Doppler-cooling limit and corresponds to an rms velocity within a factor of 2 of the lowest realizable rms velocity (~3.5vrec) in three-dimensional optical molasses. Realization of such low atom temperatures, up to now only accessible with evaporative cooling techniques, is an important precursor to producing a degenerate Fermi gas of 40K atoms.
- Publication:
-
Physical Review A
- Pub Date:
- November 1999
- DOI:
- 10.1103/PhysRevA.60.R3373
- arXiv:
- arXiv:cond-mat/9908102
- Bibcode:
- 1999PhRvA..60.3373M
- Keywords:
-
- 32.80.Pj;
- 05.30.Fk;
- Optical cooling of atoms;
- trapping;
- Fermion systems and electron gas;
- Condensed Matter - Statistical Mechanics
- E-Print:
- doi:10.1103/PhysRevA.60.R3373