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Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 4208 - 4211 (1999)

Measurement of p-Wave Threshold Law Using Evaporatively Cooled Fermionic Atoms

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B. DeMarco, J. L. Bohn, J. P. Burke, Jr., M. Holland, and D. S. Jin *
JILA, National Institute of Standards and Technology and University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309
and Physics Department, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309

Received 21 December 1998

We have measured independently both s-wave and p-wave cross-dimensional thermalization rates for ultracold 40K atoms held in a magnetic trap. These measurements reveal that this fermionic isotope has a large positive s-wave triplet scattering length in addition to a low temperature p-wave shape resonance. We have measured directly the p-wave threshold law which, combined with the Fermi statistics, dramatically suppresses elastic collision rates at low temperatures. In addition, we present initial evaporative cooling results that make possible these collision measurements and are a precursor to achieving quantum degeneracy in this neutral, low-density Fermi system.


©1999 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4208
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.4208
PACS: 32.80.Pj, 05.30.Fk, 34.50.-s

* Quantum Physics Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology.

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