Using ion production to monitor the birth and death of a metastable helium Bose-Einstein condensate
arXiv:cond-mat/0211112
Abstract
We discuss observations of the ion flux from a cloud of trapped metastable helium atoms. Both Bose-Einstein condensates and thermal clouds were investigated. The ion flux is compared to time-of-flight observations of the expanded cloud. We show data concerning BEC formation and decay, as well as measurements of two- and three-body ionization rate constants. We also discuss possible improvements and extensions of our results.
14 pages, 9 figures, submitted to Journal of Optics B (special issue, cold quantum gases)