Magnetic transport and mixing of two distinct cold atomic gases: A new route to the study of ultracold mixtures

One of the most dramatic recent advances in physics has been the experimental realization of new states of matter as a consequence of using lasers to cool atoms to within a billionth of a degree of absolute zero. The development of laser-cooling techniques was the subject of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, and the realization of a new state of matter, a Bose-Einstein Condensate, resulted in the 2001 Nobel Prize. Some of the most interesting physics currently being studied in this field arises when two such cold atomic gases are mixed. However, there are conflicting requirements in designing the vacuum chamber in which the cold mixture is held: a higher pressure region is required to collect a large number of cold atoms quickly, and a much lower pressure end is needed in which to store and study the cold ensemble. Current techniques for transferring the atoms from one region of the apparatus to the other have a number of limitations; lack of optical access and the presence of one cold species interfering with the collection of the other. We wish to demonstrate an alternative method which would allow the fast and efficient transport and mixing of two spatially separated distinct cold atomic gases into an ultra-high vacuum region. Our method circumvents the problems encountered with current techniques and offers a new route to the study of ultracold mixtures.