Fast production of ultracold sodium gases using light--induced desorption and optical trapping

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a rapid method for producing ultracold sodium gases and Bose--Einstein condensates using light-induced desorption combined with optical trapping, achieving efficient loading and quick pressure recovery.

Contribution

It introduces a novel technique combining light-induced desorption with optical trapping for fast sodium BEC production, improving loading times and pressure control.

Findings

Loaded 2×10^7 atoms in 6 seconds

Achieved a BEC with 10^4 atoms after 6 seconds of evaporation

Pressure drops by a factor of 40 within 100 ms after turning off desorbing light

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the production of a Bose--Einstein condensate (BEC) of sodium using light--induced desorption as an atomic source. We load about 2X10^7 atoms in a MOT from this source with a ~6 s loading time constant. The MOT lifetime can be kept around 27 s by turning off the desorbing light after loading. We show that the pressure drops down by a factor of 40 in less than 100 ms after the extinction of the desorbing light, restoring the low background pressure for evaporation. Using this technique, a \na BEC with 10^4 atoms is produced after a 6 s evaporation in an optical dipole trap.