Abstract
We have produced a very cold sample of spin-polarized trapped atoms. The technique used dramatically simplifies the production of laser-cooled atoms. In this experiment, 1.8× neutral cesium atoms were optically captured directly from a low-pressure vapor in a small glass cell. We then cooled the <1- cloud of trapped atoms and loaded it into a low-field magnetic trap in the same cell. The magnetically trapped atoms had an effective temperature as low as 1.1±0.2 μK, which is the lowest kinetic temperature ever observed and far colder than any previous sample of trapped atoms.
- Received 31 May 1990
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.65.1571
©1990 American Physical Society