Cord-atom accumulation using an optical trap door - art. no. 013412

Experiments are performed on loading cold atoms into a far-off resonance op tical dipole trap that is spatially separated from the laser-fooling region . The atoms are delivered using a far-off resonant optical dipole guide and enter the trap through a switchable blue-detuned light sheet or "trap door ." This scheme provides a means to transfer atoms from a dissipative to a n on-dissipative trap without a significant loss of phase-space density. We s tudy the dynamics of atoms within the trap and measure their lifetime. Prel iminary results on multiple loading are presented. As the technique does no t rely on near-resonant light, the atom number limit characteristic of lase r-cooling experiments can, in principle, be exceeded.