Abstract

Atomic Ytterbium (Yb),¹ Magnesium (Mg),² Calcium (Ca),³ and Strontium (Sr)^4,5 possess simple internal level structure and a diversity of naturally abundant Fermionic⁶ and Bosonic isotopes, making these atoms ideal testing grounds for cold collision theories⁷ and future studies of weakly- interacting quantum degenerate gases.⁸ Lacking useful magnetic ground-state sub-structure, however, these atoms cannot be driven into the quantum degenerate regime by pursuing the only proven strategy,⁹ ground-state magnetic trapping followed by forced Rf evaporation.¹⁰

© 2001 Optical Society of America