Multiply loaded, ac magnetic trap for neutral atoms

Abstract

We have demonstrated an oscillating-gradient magnetic trap for confining cesium atoms in the lowest-energy spin state. In this state spin-flip collisions are energetically forbidden and thus the primary density- and temperature-limiting process for magnetic traps is eliminated. The atoms are initially collected in a vapor-cell optical trap, then repetitively tossed into a high-vacuum region, focused in three dimensions, and accumulated in the magnetic trap. An optical pumping scheme inserts each new batch of atoms into the magnetic trap without perturbing the atoms already trapped.