Abstract
We report on the realization of quantum degenerate gas mixtures of the alkaline-earth-metal element strontium with the alkali-metal element rubidium. A key ingredient of our scheme is sympathetic cooling of Rb by Sr atoms that are continuously laser cooled on a narrow-linewidth transition. This versatile technique allows us to produce ultracold gas mixtures with a phase-space density of up to 0.06 for both elements. By further evaporative cooling we create double Bose-Einstein condensates of Rb with either Sr or Sr, reaching more than condensed atoms per element for the Sr-Rb mixture. These quantum gas mixtures constitute an important step towards the production of a quantum gas of polar, open-shell RbSr molecules.
- Received 25 May 2013
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.88.023601
©2013 American Physical Society