Abstract:
This paper reports on an experimental investigation of fine structure changing collisions between cold and trapped 85 Rb atoms. Our previous work [Eur. Phys. J. D 7, 317 (1999)] reported on our assessment of the contribution of FSC to the total trap loss using photoionization by a cw laser to detect the atomic fragments in the 5 P 1/2 state originating from these collisions. The Doppler effect plays an important role in the detection scheme and had a limiting effect on our previous experiment. To overcome this problem, we have used a pulsed laser in this work. The signal/noise ratio was improved, allowing us to measure the intensity and frequency dependence of the loss rate due to FSC. A comparison of our results with the semiclassic Gallagher-Pritchard model revealed some disagreements, for which we propose several arguments to attempt to explain these discrepancies. We believe that these results should stimulate theoretical work on this field.
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Received 4 May 2000 and Received in final form 11 October 2000
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Mancini, M., de Oliveira, A., Magalhãaes, K. et al. Intensity and detuning dependence of fine structure changing collisions in a 85 Rb magneto-optical trap. Eur. Phys. J. D 13, 317–322 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530170247
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s100530170247