Sub-Doppler laser cooling and magnetic trapping of natural-abundance fermionic potassium

Abstract

We report on reaching sub-Doppler temperatures of ${}^{40}$K in a single-chamber setup using a dispenser-based potassium source with natural (0.012$\%$ of ${}^{40}$K) isotopic composition. With gray molasses cooling on the $D_1$-line following a standard $D_2$-line magneto-optical trap, we obtain $3\times 10^5$ atoms at $\sim$10~\textmu K. We reach densities high enough to measure the temperature via absorption imaging using the time-of-flight method. Directly after sub-Doppler cooling we pump atoms into the $F=7/2$ hyperfine ground state and transfer a mixture of $m_F=-3/2,-5/2$ and $-7/2$ Zeeman states into the magnetic trap. We trap $5\times 10^4$ atoms with a lifetime of 0.6~s when the dispensers are heated up to maximize the atom number at a cost of deteriorated background gas pressure. When the dispensers have been off for a day and the magneto-optical trap loading rate has been increased by light induced atomic desorption we can magnetically trap $\sim$$10^3$ atoms with a lifetime of 2.8~s. The background pressure-limited lifetime of 0.6~s is a reasonable starting point for proof-of-principle experiments with atoms and/or molecules in optical tweezers as well as for sympathetic cooling with another species if transport to a secondary chamber is implemented. Our results show that unenriched potassium can be used to optimize experimental setups containing ${}^{40}$K in the initial stages of their construction, which can effectively extend the lifetime of enriched sources needed for proper experiments. Moreover, demonstration of sub-Doppler cooling and magnetic trapping of a relatively small number of potassium atoms might influence experiments with laser cooled radioactive isotopes of potassium.

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