Related papers: Cold atom gas at very high densities in an optical…

We report on cooling of an atomic cesium gas closely above an evanescent-wave atom mirror. At high densitities, optical cooling based on inelastic reflections is found to be limited by a density-dependent excess temperature and trap loss…

A magneto-optical trap of cesium atoms was generated by applying a circularly polarized cooling laser beam onto a reflective two-dimensional diffraction grating with an aperture and by retroreflecting the incident beam passing through the…

We report on trapping of fermionic 40K atoms in a red-detuned standing-wave optical trap, loaded from a magneto-optical trap. Typically, 10^6 atoms are loaded at a density of 10^12 cm^-3 and a temperature of 65 microK, and trapped for more…

We describe an approach to optically trapping small, chemically stable molecules at cryogenic temperatures by buffer-gas loading a deep optical dipole trap. The ~10 K trap depth will be produced by a tightly-focused, 1064-nm cavity capable…

We report a method for loading cold atoms into an optical trap with high initial phase-space density (PSD). When the trap beam is overlapped with atoms in optical molasses of optimized parameters including large cooling beam detuning…

We have trapped cesium atoms over many minutes in the focus of a CO$_2$-laser beam employing an extremely simple laser system. Collisional properties of the unpolarized atoms in their electronic ground state are investigated. Inelastic…

Most cold atoms experiments in microgravity platforms or in Space are achieved using atom chips, leading to limitations in terms of optical access and inhomogeneous magnetic fields. Optical dipole traps do not have these drawbacks but have…

We simultaneously trap ultracold lithium and cesium atoms in an optical dipole trap formed by the focus of a CO$_2$ laser and study the exchange of thermal energy between the gases. The cesium gas, which is optically cooled to $20 \mu$K,…

We demonstrate the in situ detection of cold 87 Rb atoms near a dielectric surface using the absorption of a weak, resonant evanescent wave. We have used this technique in time of flight experiments determining the density of atoms falling…

We report on cooling of an atomic cesium gas closely above an evanescent-wave. Our first evaporation experiments show a temperature reduction from 10muK down to 300nK along with a gain in phase-space density of almost two orders of…

We propose a trap for cold neutral atoms using a fictitious magnetic field induced by a nanofiber-guided light field. In close analogy to magnetic side-guide wire traps realized with current-carrying wires, a trapping potential can be…

A lattice beam configuration which results in an isotropic 3D trap near the surface of an atom chip is described. The lattice is formed near the surface of a reflectively coated atom chip, where three incident beams and three reflected…

We present the first simultaneous trapping of two different ultracold atomic species in a conservative trap. Lithium and cesium atoms are stored in an optical dipole trap formed by the focus of a CO$_2$ laser. Techniques for loading both…

We demonstrate a combined magneto-optical trap and imaging system that is suitable for the investigation of cold atoms near surfaces. In particular, we are able to trap atoms close to optically scattering surfaces and to image them with an…

Compact and robust cold atom sources are increasingly important for quantum research, especially for transferring cutting-edge quantum science into practical applications. In this letter, we report on a novel scheme that utilizes a…

This paper presents detailed characteristics of an ultra-cold bright metastable neon atomic beam which we have been using for atom-interferometric applications. The basis of the device is an atomic beam released from a magneto-optical trap…

In recent years, cold atoms could prove their scientific impact not only on ground but in microgravity environments such as the drop tower in Bremen, sounding rockets and parabolic flights. We investigate the preparation of cold atoms in an…

We calculate the loading efficiency and cooling rates in a bichromatic optical microtrap, where the optical potentials are generated by evanescent waves of cavity fields at a dielectric-vacuum interface. The cavity modified nonconservative…

We present our technique to create a magneto-optical trap for dysprosium atoms using the narrow-line cooling transition at 626$\,$nm to achieve suitable conditions for direct loading into an optical dipole trap. The magneto-optical trap is…

We investigate the optical detection of single atoms held in a microscopic atom trap close to a surface. Laser light is guided by optical fibers or optical micro-structures via the atom to a photo-detector. Our results suggest that with…