A versatile apparatus for simultaneous trapping of multiple species of ultracold atoms and ions to enable studies of low energy collisions and cold chemistry

Abstract

We describe an apparatus where many species of ultracold atoms can be simultaneously trapped and overlapped with many species of ions in a Paul trap. Several design innovations are made to increase the versatility of the apparatus while keeping the size and cost reasonable. We demonstrate the operation of a 3-dimensional (3D) magneto-optical trap (MOT) of ${}^7$Li using a single external cavity diode laser. The ${}^7$Li MOT is loaded from an atomic beam, with atoms slowed using a Zeeman slower designed to work simultaneously for Li and Sr. The operation of a 3D MOT of ${}^{133}$Cs, loaded from a 2D MOT, is demonstrated and provisions for MOTs of Rb and K in the same vacuum manifold exist. We demonstrate the trapping of ${}^7$Li${}^{+}$ and ${}^{133}$Cs${}^{+}$ at different settings of the Paul trap and their detection using an integrated time-of-flight mass spectrometer. We present results on low energy neutral-neutral collisions (${}^{133}$Cs-${}^{133}$Cs, ${}^7$Li-${}^7$Li and ${}^{133}$Cs-${}^7$Li collisions) and charge-neutral collisions (${}^{133}$Cs${}^{+}$-${}^{133}$Cs and ${}^7$Li${}^{+}$-${}^7$Li collisions). We show evidence of sympathetic cooling of ${}^7$Li${}^{+}$ (${}^{133}$Cs${}^{+}$) due to collisions with the ultracold ${}^7$Li (${}^{133}$Cs).

15 pages. The article has been accepted by The Journal of Chemical Physics. After it is published, it will be found at https://pubs.aip.org/aip/jcp

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Cited by in corpus (1)

• Ultracold Interactions between Ions and Polar Molecules