All-Optical BEC

Physicists at Georgia Tech have created and stored a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) of rubidium atoms in a trap using only laser beams, without the cumbersome magnet coils employed in traditional magneto-optic traps (MOTs). BECs have been transferred into purely optical traps before but this is the first time such a trap has produced the condensation itself, in which thousands or millions of atoms fall into a coherent single quantum state.

What are the advantages of an optical design and why are BEC scientists excited about this result?

1. In the Georgia Tech approach the BEC occurs within seconds rather than in tens or hundreds of seconds.
   
   
2. Expensive, voltage-regulated power supplies for the magnets are no longer needed.
   
   
3. Atoms (such as magnesium or strontium) or molecules with magnetic moments not suitable for conventional traps, can be studied.
   
   
4. The faster condensation lessens the need for high vacuum.
   
   
5. Without bulky magnets all around, it will be easier to move the condensate into other enclosures, such as into cavities where interactions between the BEC and single photons can be studied.




(Barrett et al., Physical Review Letters, 2 July2001; contact Michael Chapman, 404-894-5223, michael.chapman@physics.gatech.edu; text at Physics News Select.

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