Optical transport of cold atoms to quantum degeneracy

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates rapid optical transport of cold ytterbium atoms over 34 cm in 350 ms, achieving Bose-Einstein condensation with high efficiency, enabling faster preparation of ultracold atomic systems for quantum technologies.

Contribution

It introduces a moving optical lattice using Bessel beams for fast transport of cold atoms to quantum degeneracy, overcoming previous limitations in potential depth and cooling.

Findings

Transported 3×10^5 ytterbium atoms over 34 cm in 350 ms

Achieved Bose-Einstein condensation with 40% condensate fraction

Transport efficiency exceeded 60%

Abstract

Efficient transport of cold atoms is essential for continuous operation, enabling applications ranging from atomic lasers to continuously operated qubits. However, deep potentials required to overcome vibrations, axial trap nonuniformity and insufficient cooling have limited transport of cold atoms near quantum degeneracy. Here we demonstrate rapid optical transport of cold atoms to Bose-Einstein condensation using a moving optical lattice formed by two Bessel beams. A gas of $3 \times 10^5$ ytterbium atoms at a temperature of $340\,$nK is transported over $34\,$cm in $350\,$ms with efficiency over $60\%$. Furthermore, a degenerate gas of $1 \times 10^5$ atoms with a $40\%$ condensate fraction emerges from the phase synchronization process driven by atomic interactions. This demonstration enables the fast preparation of ultracold atomic beams and large-scale atom arrays for quantum sensing, simulation and computing.