Abstract
We present a combined computational and experimental study to optimize the efficiency of evaporative cooling for atoms in optical dipole traps. By employing a kinetic model of evaporation, we provide a strategy for determining the optimal relation between atom temperature, trap depth, and average trap frequency during evaporation given experimental initial conditions. We then experimentally implement a highly efficient evaporation process in an optical dipole trap, showing excellent agreement between the theory and experiment. This method has allowed the creation of pure Bose-Einstein condensates of Rb with atoms starting from only atoms initially loaded in the optical dipole trap, achieving an evaporation efficiency of 4.0 during evaporation.
- Received 15 November 2012
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.87.053613
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