We report on the attainment of Bose-Einstein condensation with ultracold strontium atoms. We use the $^{84}$Sr isotope, which has a low natural abundance but offers excellent scattering properties for evaporative cooling. By accumulating the atoms in a metastable state during the initial MOT phase, followed by narrowline cooling, and straightforward evaporative cooling in an optical trap, we obtain pure condensates containing $1.5\times10^5$ atoms. This puts $^{84}$Sr in a prime position for experiments on quantum-degenerate gases involving atomic two-electron systems. Furthermore, we report on recent advances towards a degenerate Fermi gas of $^{87}$Sr.
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Authors
Meng Khoon Tey
Inst. for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Acad. of Sciences, and Inst. of Experimental Physics, Innsbruck Univ., Innsbruck, Austria
Simon Stellmer
Inst. for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Acad. of Sciences, and Inst. of Experimental Physics, Innsbruck Univ., Innsbruck, Austria
Bo Huang
Inst. for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Acad. of Sciences, and Inst. of Experimental Physics, Innsbruck Univ., Innsbruck, Austria
Rudolf Grimm
Inst. of Experimental Physics, Univ. Innsbruck, and IQOQI, Austrian Acad. of Sciences
Inst. for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Acad. of Sciences, and Inst. of Experimental Physics, Innsbruck Univ., Innsbruck, Austria
Florian Schreck
Inst. for Quantum Optics and Quantum Information, Austrian Acad. of Sciences, and Inst. of Experimental Physics, Innsbruck Univ., Innsbruck, Austria
