Feshbach spectroscopy of an ultracold Rb-Cs mixture

Abstract

This thesis reports the observation of interspecies Feshbach resonances in an ultracold mixture of Rb and Cs atoms. A versatile combined magnetic and optical potential has been designed and constructed which is capable of bringing both and to degeneracy, and reaching high phase-space density in . High phase-space density mixtures are the first step required in the production of ultracold polar molecules, the topic of much current research.

The apparatus capitalises on the efficient capture of atoms by a magnetic trap from a magneto-optical trap, and the efficient sympathetic cooling of Cs by Rb therein. Upon transfer to the crossed optical dipole trap condensates in excess of atoms and approximately atoms are produced after direct evaporation and gravito-magnetic tilting of the potential. The observation of six interspecies - Feshbach resonances are reported, three of which had only been predicted theoretically, allowing testing and development of the theoretical model. Furthermore, the extrapolation of this model has predicted numerous Feshbach resonances between and , none of which have been experimentally observed prior to this work. The versatile nature of this apparatus is discussed, including the application of the current system to cooling of . Initial experiments observed seven interspecies resonances, including a broad s-wave resonance at a magnetic field of G which is in excellent agreement with the theoretical prediction. Further work has revealed that fourteen Feshbach resonances exist in the 0-700 G magnetic field range between and atoms in the and states, respectively. Several of these resonances would be ideal for magneto-association of RbCs molecules, prior to transfer to the rovibrational ground-state.