Ionization rates in a Bose-Einstein condensate of metastable Helium

Abstract

We have studied ionizing collisions in a BEC of He*. Measurements of the ion production rate combined with measurements of the density and number of atoms for the same sample allow us to estimate both the 2 and 3-body contributions to this rate. A comparison with the decay of the number of condensed atoms in our magnetic trap, in the presence of an rf-shield, indicates that ionizing collisions are largely or wholly responsible for the loss. Quantum depletion makes a substantial correction to the 3-body rate constant.

arXiv comment4 pages, 3 figures

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• Homonuclear ionizing collisions of laser-cooled metastable helium atoms
• Purely-long-range bound states of He$(2s^{3}S)+$He$(2p^{3}P)$
• Reaching the hydrodynamic regime in a Bose-Einstein condensate by suppression of avalanche
• Magnetic-field dependent trap loss of ultracold metastable helium
• Bose-Einstein Condensation and Spin Mixtures of Optically Trapped Metastable Helium
• Prospects for measurement and control of the scattering length of metastable helium using photoassociation techniques
• Ultracold collisions in tight harmonic traps: Quantum defect model and application to metastable helium atoms
• Ultracold homonuclear and heteronuclear collisions in metastable helium