Characterisation of a triple-species 87Rb/85Rb/133Cs magneto-optical trap towards cold-atom interferometry

Abstract

We present the simultaneous trapping and cooling of ${}^{85}$Rb, ${}^{87}$Rb and ${}^{133}$Cs in a triple-species magneto-optical trap (MOT). This demonstration is obtained using an all-fibre compact and robust laser system based on telecom 1.5 $\mu$m and 2 $\mu$m technologies. We characterise the two-body interspecies losses in the double and triple-species MOT. We calculate the two-body interspecies trap-loss coefficient for the ${}^{85}$Rb/${}^{133}$Cs and the ${}^{87}$Rb/${}^{133}$Cs pairs, representing a variation of less than 7 \% in atom number. No losses are observed between ${}^{85}$Rb and ${}^{87}$Rb in our experimental conditions. We find that interspecies interactions inside the triple-species MOT do not prevent trapping and cooling 10${}^8$ atoms for each species, making our system suitable for future multi-species cold-atom interferometry applications.