Large spin relaxation rates in trapped submerged-shell atoms

Spin relaxation due to atom–atom collisions is measured for magnetically trapped erbium and thulium atoms at a temperature near 500 mK. The rate constants for Er–Er and Tm–Tm collisions are 3.0×10[superscript -10] and 1.1×10[superscript -10] cm[superscript 3] s[superscript -1], respectively, 2–3 or...

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Detaylı Bibliyografya
Asıl Yazarlar: Connolly, Colin B., Au, Yat Shan, Doret, S. Charles, Ketterle, Wolfgang, Doyle, John M.
Diğer Yazarlar: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
Materyal Türü: Makale
Dil:en_US
Baskı/Yayın Bilgisi: American Physical Society 2010
Online Erişim:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/56256
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9528-3044
Diğer Bilgiler
Özet:Spin relaxation due to atom–atom collisions is measured for magnetically trapped erbium and thulium atoms at a temperature near 500 mK. The rate constants for Er–Er and Tm–Tm collisions are 3.0×10[superscript -10] and 1.1×10[superscript -10] cm[superscript 3] s[superscript -1], respectively, 2–3 orders of magnitude larger than those observed for highly magnetic S-state atoms. This is strong evidence for an additional, dominant, spin relaxation mechanism, electronic interaction anisotropy, in collisions between these “submerged-shell,” L≠0 atoms. These large spin relaxation rates imply that evaporative cooling of these atoms in a magnetic trap will be highly inefficient.