[2211.07111] Generation of highly degenerate Fermi gas from metastable helium 3 atoms

[Submitted on 14 Nov 2022]

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Overview: We report the achievement of quantum degeneracy in both components of Bose-Fermi mixtures of metastable helium atoms $^4$He* and $^3$He*. Degeneracy is achieved by Doppler cooling and forced evaporation of $^4$He* and resonant cooling of $^3$He* by $^4$He*. A simplified implementation is described along with the high versatility of the system. This technique can produce a degenerate Fermi gas with a minimum temperature drop of $T/T_F=0.14(1)$ consisting of $2.5 \times 10^4$ $^3$He* atoms. The high internal energies of both isotopes allow detection of single atoms, opening up numerous experimental possibilities for Bose-Fermi mixtures.