A continuously pumped reservoir of ultracold atoms

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates a method for continuously loading a magnetic trap with ultracold atoms from a quasi-continuous beam, achieving a steady state suitable for precision applications.

Contribution

It introduces a robust, continuous loading scheme for ultracold atoms into magnetic traps, enabling steady-state operation without sequential cooling delays.

Findings

Achieved a steady state with 3.8 x 10^7 trapped atoms.

Temperature of the trapped ensemble is 102 μK.

The scheme is applicable to various particles and traps.

Abstract

Typical sources of ultracold atoms operate with a considerable delay between the delivery of ensembles due to sequential trapping and cooling schemes. Therefore, alternative schemes for the continuous generation of ultracold atoms are highly desirable. Here, we demonstrate the continuous loading of a magnetic trap from a quasi-continuous atom beam. We achieve a steady state with $3.8 \times 10^7$ magnetically trapped atoms and a temperature of $102 \mu$K. The ensemble is protected from laser light sources, a requirement for its application for metrological tasks or sympathetic cooling. The continuous scheme is robust and applicable to a wide range of particles and trapping potentials.