Sympathetic Cooling of Lithium by Laser-cooled Cesium
arXiv:physics/0109069 · doi:10.1142/9789812778307_0045
Abstract
We present first indications of sympathetic cooling between two neutral, optically trapped atomic species. Lithium and cesium atoms are simultaneously stored in an optical dipole trap formed by the focus of a CO$_2$ laser, and allowed to interact for a given period of time. The temperature of the lithium gas is found to decrease when in thermal contact with cold cesium. The timescale of thermalization yields an estimate for the Li-Cs cross-section.
4 pages, proceedings of ICOLS 2001