Efficient production of sodium Bose-Einstein condensates in a hybrid trap

Abstract

We describe an apparatus that efficiently produces $^{23}$Na Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) in a hybrid trap that combines a quadrupole magnetic field with a far-detuned optical dipole trap. Using a Bayesian optimization framework, we systematically optimize all BEC production parameters in modest sized batches of highly correlated parameters. Furthermore, we introduce a Lagrange multiplier-based technique to optimize the duration of different evaporation stages constrained to have a fixed total duration; this enables the progressive creation of increasingly rapid experimental sequences that still generate high quality BECs. Taken together, our techniques constitute a general approach for refining and accelerating sequence-based experimental protocols.