Beating the density limit by continuously loading a dipole trap from millikelvin-hot magnesium atoms

Abstract

We load ${10}^{5}$ magnesium atoms in a dipole trap from a millikelvin-hot magneto-optical trap (MOT) using a continuous-loading scheme. Light-assisted two-body processes limit the maximum achievable density in a MOT, resulting in a reduced transfer efficiency into a dipole trap when using the conventional sequential scheme. It is overcome in a continuous-loading scheme where a loss channel is opened in the MOT. This allows the accumulation of atoms in the dipole trap over the trap lifetime, determined by collisions with the background gas. This results in a significantly higher number of trapped atoms even at a lower steady-state peak density in the MOT.