Erbium BEC in an Optical Box Potential
Milan Krstajic - University of Cambridge
2018 - PhD 1st year report
Abstract
We are building a new experimental setup to produce a Bose-Einstein Condensate of erbium atoms in an optical box potential. The aim is to investigate the effects of long-range, dipole dipole interactions on quantum gas systems. Erbium was chosen for the experimental species as it has one of the highest available magnetic moments (7µB) among chemical elements, and methods for cooling it to quantum degeneracy have been developed, making it an ideal species for this task. We have designed a vacuum chamber for the experiment, implementing the standard laser cooling protocols(2D optical molasses for transversal cooling, Zeeman Slower and a Magneto-Optical Trap), followed by an optical dipole trap for trapping and transporting the atomic cloud into a glass ’science cell’ which enables sufficient optical access to impose the optical box potential to the atoms. At this point, the majority vacuum chamber has been built and the optical systems for laser cooling are in the process of being set up. This report aims to cover the context and the basic theoretical background behind the planned research, the overview of the experimental design and the building efforts undertaken so far, and finally to describe the research projects that we have in plan. The final section also contains a timeline of all planned tasks for the duration of my PhD course.