Progress towards isotope-dependent trapping of strontium
POSTER
Abstract
Independently controllable trapping potentials for different atomic elements, isotopes, and states are useful for forming quantum degenerate gases through sympathetic cooling, for quantum computing architectures\footnote{Anderlini et al., Nature 448, 452-456 (2007)}, and for fundamental studies in many-body physics\footnote{Mandel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 010407 (2003)}. In strontium, the large isotope shifts ($\sim100$ MHz) relative to the narrow \textsuperscript{1}S\textsubscript{0}-\textsuperscript{3}P\textsubscript{1} intercombination line (7.5 kHz) offers the possibility of creating multi-isotope optical traps in which the potentials are optimized for each individual species, such as \textsuperscript{86}Sr with \textsuperscript{87}Sr or \textsuperscript{86}Sr with \textsuperscript{88}Sr, allowing for efficient evaporative cooling. We will present results for confinement of \textsuperscript{84}Sr when a dimple is created using far-detuned 689 nm light ($\Gamma/\Delta \sim 10^{-5}$) within a large-volume 1064 nm dipole trap ($\Gamma/\Delta \sim 10^{-7}$). The 689 nm dimple will be used to develop a trap for efficient creation of \textsuperscript{88}Sr Bose-Einstein condensates, overcoming the slow evaporation currently required.
*Research supported by the AFOSR, the NSF, and the Robert A, Welch Foundation.