Collisional stability of localized Yb(3P2) atoms immersed in a Fermi sea of Li

Abstract

We establish an experimental method for a detailed investigation of inelastic collisional properties between ytterbium(Yb) in themetastable [3]P[2]state and ground state lithium (Li). By combining an optical lattice and a direct excitation to the [3]P[2]state we achieve high selectivity on the collisional partners.Using thismethodwe determine inelastic loss coefficients in collisions between [174]Yb([3]P[2]) with magnetic sublevels of mJ = 0 and -2 and ground state [6]Li to be (4.4 ± 0.3) x10[-11] cm3 s[-1] and (4.7 ± 0.8)x10-11 cm[3] s[-1], respectively. Absence of spin changing processes in Yb([3]P[2])-Li inelastic collisions at low magnetic fields is confirmed by inelastic loss measurements on themJ=0 state.Wealso demonstrate that our method allows us to look into loss processes in few-body systems separately.