Dependence of in-situ Bose condensate size on frequency of RF-field used for evaporative cooling

TL;DR

This study investigates how the size of an in-situ Bose-Einstein condensate in a rubidium atom cloud varies with the RF-field frequency used during evaporative cooling, providing experimental insights into condensate behavior.

Contribution

It presents the first detailed in-situ measurements of condensate size dependence on RF frequency during evaporative cooling in a QUIC trap.

Findings

Condensate and thermal cloud sizes vary with RF frequency.

Clear bimodal profiles indicate BEC phase transition.

Results align with existing theoretical predictions.

Abstract

We report the results of in-situ characterization of $ ^{87}$Rb atom cloud in a quadrupole Ioffe configuration (QUIC) magnetic trap after radio frequency (RF) evaporative cooling of the trapped atom cloud. The in-situ absorption images of the atom cloud have shown clear bimodal optical density (OD) profiles which indicate the Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) phase transition in the trapped gas. Also, we report the measured variation in the sizes of the condensate and thermal clouds with the final frequency in the frequency scan of the RF-field applied for evaporative cooling. The results are consistent with the theoretical understanding and predictions reported earlier.