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Experiments to Control Atom Number and Phase-Space Density in ...

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(a)<br />

(b)<br />

(c)<br />

n(E)<br />

n(E)<br />

n(E)<br />

E avg<br />

E avg<br />

E avg<br />

Figure 2.19: Evaporative Cool<strong>in</strong>g Process. (a) The thermal distribution of the trapped<br />

cloud of a<strong>to</strong>ms extends far above the well depth U of the optical trap. (b) The hottest<br />

a<strong>to</strong>ms leave the a<strong>to</strong>ms, effectively reduc<strong>in</strong>g the average energy of the trapped a<strong>to</strong>ms. (c)<br />

Collisions between the a<strong>to</strong>ms lead <strong>to</strong> a rethermaliz<strong>in</strong>g of the cloud at a lower temperature.<br />

The process then repeats itself. The processes of leav<strong>in</strong>g the trap <strong>and</strong> rethermalization<br />

happen cont<strong>in</strong>ously <strong>and</strong> is not a discrete process. Once the thermal tail does not extend<br />

above the trap depth anymore, additional techniques (i.e. lower<strong>in</strong>g of the trap depth)<br />

are required <strong>to</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>ue the evaporative cool<strong>in</strong>g process.<br />

U<br />

The speed of evaporative cool<strong>in</strong>g is highly dependent on the timescale of rether-<br />

malization <strong>and</strong> thus on the scatter<strong>in</strong>g cross section of the a<strong>to</strong>ms. Us<strong>in</strong>g the broad<br />

Feshbach resonance <strong>in</strong> 6 Li the scatter<strong>in</strong>g cross section can be significantly <strong>in</strong>creased,<br />

thus reduc<strong>in</strong>g evaporation times dramatically.<br />

The efficiency of the evaporative cool<strong>in</strong>g process will depend on the shape of the<br />

trap depth lower<strong>in</strong>g curve. For an energy-<strong>in</strong>dependent scatter<strong>in</strong>g cross section the ideal<br />

shape is given by [40]<br />

U(t)<br />

U0<br />

=<br />

E<br />

<br />

1+ t<br />

−2(η−3)/η , (2.36)<br />

τ<br />

27<br />

E<br />

E

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