Inelastic collisions in radiofrequency-dressed mixtures of ultracold atoms

TL;DR

This study investigates inelastic collisions in RF-dressed mixtures of ultracold 85Rb and 87Rb atoms, revealing collision-induced losses and their dependence on RF detuning, with quantum calculations supporting the experimental results.

Contribution

It provides the first detailed characterization of inelastic collisions in RF-dressed atomic mixtures and compares experimental data with quantum scattering calculations.

Findings

Losses are caused by 87Rb+85Rb collisions.

Inelastic rate coefficient varies with RF detuning.

Quantum calculations agree with experimental observations.

Abstract

Radiofrequency (RF)-dressed potentials are a promising technique for manipulating atomic mixtures, but so far little work has been undertaken to understand the collisions of atoms held within these traps. In this work, we dress a mixture of 85Rb and 87Rb with RF radiation, characterize the inelastic loss that occurs, and demonstrate species-selective manipulations. Our measurements show the loss is caused by two-body 87Rb+85Rb collisions, and we show the inelastic rate coefficient varies with detuning from the RF resonance. We explain our observations using quantum scattering calculations, which give reasonable agreement with the measurements. The calculations consider magnetic fields both perpendicular to the plane of RF polarization and tilted with respect to it. Our findings have important consequences for future experiments that dress mixtures with RF fields.