Collisional stability of localized Yb(${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$) atoms immersed in a Fermi sea of Li

TL;DR

This paper presents a new experimental approach to measure inelastic collisional properties between metastable ytterbium atoms and ground state lithium, revealing low loss coefficients and no spin-changing processes at low magnetic fields.

Contribution

The study introduces a selective optical lattice method to investigate inelastic collisions between Yb in the ${}^3 ext{P}_2$ state and Li, providing detailed loss coefficients and confirming the absence of spin-changing collisions.

Findings

Inelastic loss coefficients are approximately 4.4 and 4.7 x 10^{-11} cm^3/s for different Yb sublevels.

No spin-changing processes observed at low magnetic fields.

Method enables analysis of loss processes in few-body systems.

Abstract

We establish an experimental method for a detailed investigation of inelastic collisional properties between ytterbium (Yb) in the metastable ${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$ state and ground state lithium (Li). By combining an optical lattice and a direct excitation to the ${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$ state we achieve high selectivity on the collisional partners. Using this method we determine inelastic loss coefficients in collisions between $^{174}$Yb(${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$) with magnetic sublevels of $m_J=0$ and $-2$ and ground state $^6$Li to be $(4.4\pm0.3)\times10^{-11}~\mathrm{cm}^3/\mathrm{s}$ and $(4.7\pm0.8)\times10^{-11}~\mathrm{cm}^3/\mathrm{s}$, respectively. Absence of spin changing processes in Yb(${}^3\mathrm{P}_2$)-Li inelastic collisions at low magnetic fields is confirmed by inelastic loss measurements on the $m_J=0$ state. We also demonstrate that our method allows us to look into loss processes in few-body systems separately.