Universal Loss Dynamics in a Unitary Bose Gas

The low temperature unitary Bose gas is a fundamental paradigm in few-body and many-body physics, attracting wide theoretical and experimental interest. Here we first present a theoretical model that describes the dynamic competition between two-body evaporation and three-body re-combination in a harmonically trapped unitary atomic gas above the condensation temperature. We identify a universal magic trap depth where, within some parameter range, evaporative cooling is balanced by recombination heating and the gas temperature stays constant. Our model is developed for the usual three-dimensional evaporation regime as well as the 2D evaporation case. Experiments performed with unitary 133 Cs and 7 Li atoms fully support our predictions and enable quantitative measurements of the 3-body recombination rate in the low temperature domain. In particular, we measure for the first time the Efimov inelasticity parameter $eta$ * = 0.098(7) for the 47.8-G d-wave Feshbach resonance in 133 Cs. Combined 133 Cs and 7 Li experimental data allow investigations of loss dynamics over two orders of magnitude in temperature and four orders of magnitude in three-body loss. We confirm the 1/T 2 temperature universality law up to the constant $eta$ *.

2.1-watts intracavity-frequency-doubled all-solid-state light source at 671 nm for laser cooling of lithium

We present an all-solid-state laser source emitting up to 2.1 W of single-frequency light at 671 nm developed for laser cooling of lithium atoms. It is based on a diode-pumped, neodymium-doped orthovanadate (Nd:YVO$_4$) ring laser operating at 1342 nm. Optimization of the thermal management in the gain medium results in a maximum multi-frequency output power of 2.5 W at the fundamental wavelength. We develop a simple theory for the efficient implementation of intracavity second harmonic generation, and its application to our system allows us to obtain nonlinear conversion efficiencies of up to 88%. Single-mode operation and tuning is established by adding an etalon to the resonator. The second-harmonic wavelength can be tuned over 0.5 nm, and mode-hop-free scanning over more than 6 GHz is demonstrated, corresponding to around ten times the laser cavity free spectral range. The output frequency can be locked with respect to the lithium $D$-line transitions for atomic physics applications. Furthermore, we observe parametric Kerr-lens mode-locking when detuning the phase-matching temperature sufficiently far from the optimum value.

An all-solid-state laser source at 671 nm for cold atom experiments with lithium

We present an all solid-state narrow line-width laser source emitting $670,mathrm{mW}$ output power at $671,mathrm{nm}$ delivered in a diffraction-limited beam. The linebreak source is based on a fre-quency-doubled diode-end-linebreak pumped ring laser operating on the ${^4F}_{3/2} rightarrow {^4I}_{13/2}$ transition in Nd:YVO$_4$. By using periodically-poled po-tassium titanyl phosphate (ppKTP) in an external build-up cavity, doubling efficiencies of up to 86% are obtained. Tunability of the source over $100,rm GHz$ is accomplished. We demonstrate the suitability of this robust frequency-stabilized light source for laser cooling of lithium atoms. Finally a simplified design based on intra-cavity doubling is described and first results are presented.