Abstract

Optical dipole traps facilitate storage of atoms independent of their magnetic sub-state. Trapping at high densities is thus not limited by two-body collisions changing the spin state of the atom, which in the particular case of cesium have so far prevented the attainment of Bose-Einstein condensation in magnetic traps [1]. For evaporative cooling of Cs we use the gravito-optical surface trap [2] (GOST, see Fig 1), which consists of a horizontal evanescent-wave (EW) atom mirror in combination with a blue-detuned hollow beam (HB) for transverse confinement.

© 2000 IEEE