O. Sirjean | TrappedIons.org

Using ion production to monitor the birth and death of a metastable helium Bose-Einstein condensate

S. Seidelin, O. Sirjean, J. Viana Gomes, D. Boiron, C. I. Westbrook, A. Aspect [1]

Abstract

We discuss observations of the ion flux from a cloud of trapped metastable helium atoms. Both Bose-Einstein condensates and thermal clouds were investigated. The ion flux is compared to time-of-flight observations of the expanded cloud. We show data concerning BEC formation and decay, as well as measurements of two- and three-body ionization rate constants. We also discuss possible improvements and extensions of our results.

Bose-Einstein condensation of metastable helium: some experimental aspects

C. I. Westbrook, A. Robert [1], O. Sirjean [1], A. Browaeys [1], D. Boiron [1], A. Aspect [1]

Abstract

We describe our recent realization of BEC using metastable helium. All detection is done with a micruchannel plate which detects the metastables or ions coming from the trapped atom cloud. This discussion emphasizes some of the diagnostic experiments which were necessary to quantitatively analyse our results.