Related papers: Photoionization loss in simultaneous magneto-optic…
Magneto-optical trapping of molecules has thus far been restricted to molecules with $^2\Sigma$ electronic ground states. These species are chemically reactive and only support a simple laser cooling scheme from their first excited…
An atomic rubidium beam formed in a 70 mm long two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT), directly loaded from a collimated Knudsen source, is analyzed using laser-induced fluorescence. The longitudinal velocity distribution, the…
As a heavy molecule, barium monofluoride (BaF) presents itself as a promising candidate for measuring permanent electric dipole moment. The precision of such measurements can be significantly enhanced by utilizing a cold molecular sample.…
Near-threshold photodissociation of Br$_2$ from a supersonic beam produces slow bromine atoms that are trapped in the magnetic field minimum formed between two opposing permanent magnets. Here, we quantify the dominant trap loss rate due to…
Two efficient and isotope-selective resonant two-photon ionization techniques for loading barium ions into radio-frequency (RF)-traps are demonstrated. The scheme of using a strong dipole-allowed transition at \lambda=553 nm as a first step…
We propose a method for laser cooling and trapping a substantial class of polar molecules, and in particular titanium (II) oxide (TiO). This method uses pulsed electric fields to nonadiabatically remix the ground-state magnetic sublevels of…
We report on the realization of a platform for trapping and manipulating individual $^{88}$Sr atoms in optical tweezers. A first cooling stage based on a blue shielded magneto-optical trap (MOT) operating on the $^1S_0$ -> $^1P_1$…
We present model-independent measurements of the excited-state population of atoms in a sodium (Na) magneto-optical trap (MOT) using a hybrid ion-neutral trap composed of a MOT and a linear Paul trap (LPT). We photoionize excited Na atoms…
We have successfully implemented the first simultaneous magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of lithium ($^6$Li) and ytterbium ($^{174}$Yb) atoms, towards production of ultracold polar molecules of LiYb. For this purpose, we developed the dual…
We report the first efficient trapping of rare-earth Yb atoms with a high-power violet laser diode (LD). An injection-locked violet LD with a 25 mW frequency-stabilized output was used for the magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of fermionic as…
We present a machine built for experiments with ultracold mixtures of strontium and lithium atoms. The machine includes a science vacuum chamber and the relevant laser systems for cooling and trapping the atoms. With this machine, we…
We study the forces and optical pumping within grating magneto-optical traps (MOTs) operating on transitions with non-trivial level structure. In contrast to the standard six-beam MOT configuration, rate equation modelling predicts that the…
First laser cooling and trapping of the heavy alkaline earth element barium has been achieved based on the strong 6s$^2$ $^1$S$_0$ - 6s6p $^1$P$_1$ transition for the main cooling. Due to the large branching into metastable D-states several…
Molecular magneto-optical traps (MOTs) typically capture orders of magnitude fewer particles than their atomic counterparts due in part to their significantly lower capture velocities. Here, we employ a Stochastic Schr\"odinger Equation…
We report the results of two-photon-excited fluorescence (TPEF) measurements of the $5\mathrm{S}_{1/2} \rightarrow 5\mathrm{D}_{1/2}$ transition of $^{85}$Rb and $^{87}$Rb cooled in a magneto-optical trap (MOT). We observe TPEF at…
We report on a technique to improve the continuous loading of atomic strontium into a magnetic trap from a Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT). This is achieved by adding a depumping laser tuned to the 3P1 to 3S1 (688-nm) transition. The depumping…
We are developing a new hybrid atom-ion trap to study the interaction of ultracold rubidium atoms with mass-selected OH- molecules. The ions are trapped inside an octupole rf-trap made of thin wires instead of the commonly used rods. This…
We report the trapping of ultracold neutral $ \text{Rb}$ atoms and $ \text{Ba}^+ $ ions in a common optical potential in absence of any radiofrequency (RF) fields. We prepare $ \text{Ba}^+ $ at $ 370 ~ \mu K $ and demonstrate efficient…
The absolute photodetachment cross section of OH- anions at a rotational and translational temperature of 170K is determined by measuring the detachment-induced decay rate of the anions in a multipole radio-frequency ion trap. In comparison…
Absolute photoionization cross sections for the Rb$^{2+}$ ion were recently measured at high resolution over the energy range 37.31 eV -- 44.08~eV, with autoionizing Rydberg resonance series identified, using the photon-ion merged-beam…