[Historical report created from GSU BEC Homepage:]

"On 7 October 2002 we observed BEC in my new labs at the ETH Zurich.

We start out with ⁸⁷Rb atoms which are laser cooled in a vapor cell magneto-optical trap. Within a few seconds we collect more than 10⁹ atoms at temperatures below 100 microkelvin. After a short polarization gradient cooling and optical pumping sequence the cold atoms are captured in a magnetic quadrupole trap in the |F = 2, M_F = 2> hyperfine ground state of ⁸⁷Rb. While the atoms are trapped, we transport them magnetically over a distance of 35 cm into an UHV vacuum chamber with a background pressure below 10-11 mbar. Subsequently the atoms are transferred into a magnetic QUIC-trap with trapping frequencies of 200 Hz and 20 Hz in the radial and axial direction, respectively. After 30 seconds of radiofrequency induced evaporative cooling we have observed almost pure Bose-Einstein condensates with up to 3 x 10⁵ atoms.

For further information, consult the group Web page"