Paper detail

Measurement of collisions between laser cooled cesium atoms and trapped cesium ions

We report the measurement of collision rate coefficient for collisions between ultracold Cs atoms and low energy Cs+ ions. The experiments are performed in a hybrid trap consisting of a magneto-optical trap (MOT) for Cs atoms and a Paul trap for Cs+ ions. The ion-atom collisions impart kinetic energy to the ultracold Cs atoms resulting in their escape from the shallow MOT and, therefore, in a reduction in the number of Cs atoms in the MOT. By monitoring, using fluorescence measurements, the Cs atom number and the MOT loading dynamics and then fitting the data to a rate equation model, the ion-atom collision rate is derived. The Cs-Cs+ collision rate coefficient $9.3(\pm0.4)(\pm1.2)(\pm3.5) \times 10^{-14}$ m$^{3}$s$^{-1}$, measured for an ion distribution with most probable collision energy of 95 meV ($\approx k_{B}.1100$ K), is in fair agreement with theoretical calculations. As an intermediate step, we also determine the photoionization cross section of Cs $6P_{3/2}$ atoms at 473 nm wavelength to be $2.28 (\pm 0.33) \times 10^{-21}$ m$^{2}$.