Fast, simple, all-optical production of sodium spinor condensates

We present an experiment for quickly producing Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) of ²³Na atoms in a simple crossed dipole trap. The atoms were collected in a magneto-optical trap from a zero-crossing Zeeman slower. The atoms are then transferred to a tightly focused crossed optical dipole trap, and a pure F = 1 BEC of ∼1.1 × 10⁵ sodium atoms was created by a fast forced evaporation. Our system reliably generates the condensate at a rate exceeding 10⁵ atoms every ∼8 s. We also compare the lifetimes of the mixed F = 1 condensate and the spin components (m _F = 0, m _F = +1). (paper)