Realization of BEC-BCS crossover physics in a compact oven-loaded magneto-optic trap apparatus

TL;DR

This paper presents a simple, compact oven-loaded magneto-optical trap system capable of producing molecular Bose-Einstein condensates and degenerate Fermi gases of lithium, demonstrating key quantum phenomena with minimal infrastructure.

Contribution

The work introduces a minimalistic, cost-effective MOT apparatus that forgoes complex components, enabling the creation of quantum degenerate gases and observing BEC-BCS crossover physics.

Findings

Successful production of a molecular BEC.

Observation of pairing gap in a strongly interacting Fermi gas.

The apparatus meets key atom number and trap lifetime requirements.

Abstract

We report on a simple oven-loaded magneto-optical trap (MOT) apparatus for the creation of both molecular Bose-Einstein condensates (mBEC) and degenerate Fermi gases (DFGs) of lithium. The apparatus does not require a Zeeman slower or a 2D MOT nor does it require any separation or differential pumping between the effusive atom source and the science chamber. The result is an exceedingly simple, inexpensive, and compact vacuum system ideal for miniaturization. We discuss our work in the context of other realizations of quantum degenerate gases by evaporation in optical dipole traps and illustrate that our apparatus meets the key requirements of atom number and trap lifetime. We also demonstrate with this system the production of a mBEC, and we use it to observe the pairing gap of a strongly interacting two-component DFG in the BEC-BCS crossover regime.