Producing Quantum Degenerate Gases of Strontium
POSTER
Abstract
We present our progress towards producing quantum degenerate gases of all four stable isotopes of strontium ($^{84}$Sr, $^{86}$Sr, $^{87}$Sr, $^{88}$Sr) and isotopic mixtures. We characterize the performance of our broad-line (461 nm, 30.5 MHz), narrow-line (689 nm, 7.5 kHz) magneto-optical traps, and examine evaporative cooling for all four isotopes. The new apparatus will be used to create and study tunable long-range interactions by dressing with strongly-interacting Rydberg states. The ability to trap the four different isotopes allows a measure of control of these interactions through access to a range of attractive and repulsive interactions. Simultaneous trapping of different isotopes provides opportunities for novel laser cooling schemes for studying Bose-Bose and Bose-Fermi mixtures.
*Research supported by the AFOSR under grant no. FA9550-12-1-0267, the NSF under grants nos. 1301773 and 1205946, and the Robert A. Welch Foundation under grant no. C-0734.