Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dual Species Magneto-Optical Trap, Daniel Woodbury, Scott Bergeson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

In the last several decades, laser cooling has become the primary tool for atomic research and, in our lab, has facilitated the study of ultracold plasma. Using a novel laser cooling setup, we created a vacuum chamber and related hardware for a dual species magneto-optical trap (MOT). The design of the MOT will allow us to improve trapping efficiency and atom density in our plasma, better understand laser cooling and trapping of calcium and ytterbium, and probe their interactions in ultracold hetero-nuclear plasma.