Distillation of bose-einstein condensates in a double-well potential.
Bose-Einstein condensates of sodium atoms, prepared in an optical dipole trap, were distilled into a second empty dipole trap adjacent to the first one. The distillation was driven by thermal atoms spilling over the potential barrier separating the two wells and then forming a new condensate. This process serves as a model system for metastability in condensates, provides a test for quantum kinetic theories of condensate formation, and also represents a novel technique for creating or replenishing condensates in new locations.
Shin
Y
Y
Department of Physics, MIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms, and Research Laboratory of Electronics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA.
Saba
M
M
Schirotzek
A
A
Pasquini
T A
TA
Leanhardt
A E
AE
Pritchard
D E
DE
Ketterle
W
W