Design and construction of a versatile experiment for the production of ultracold gases

Ultracold atom experiments around the world have significantly advanced our understanding of quantum phenomena, including Bose-Einstein condensation, fundamentals of magnetic phenomena, quantum phase transitions, and the study of topological phenomena, to name a few. The Quantum Technologies Laboratory of the Center for Research and Advanced Studies (Laboratorio de Tecnologías Cuánticas, CINVESTAV, Unidad Querétaro), aims to contribute to this field of research with a versatile and compact experiment for the production of ultracold gases.

 

The inside volume of the vacuum system in our compact experiment is less than 0.5L and is composed by 2 glass cells connected by standard SS316 vacuum components. The machine will incorporate Rb dispensers and light-induced desorption as the atomic source. The design includes 2D and 3D MOT cooling stages, magnetic trapping, and an all optical 1064 nm crossed dipole trap. The optical access provided by the glass cell will allow the implementation of laser beams to produce lattice potentials as well as Raman transitions. One of the first goals of the research group at Laboratorio de Tecnologías Cuánticas is to produce the first atomic Bose-Einstein condensate in Mexico and study spinor systems subject to optical lattice potentials.