A versatile apparatus for simultaneous trapping of multiple species of ultracold atoms and ions to enable studies of low energy collisions and cold chemistry.

We describe an apparatus where many species of ultracold atoms can be simultaneously trapped and overlapped with many species of ions in a Paul trap. Several design innovations are made to increase the versatility of the apparatus while keeping the size and cost reasonable. We demonstrate the operation of a three-dimensional (3D) magneto-optical trap (MOT) of 7Li using a single external cavity diode laser. The 7Li MOT is loaded from an atomic beam, with atoms slowed using a Zeeman slower designed to work simultaneously for Li and Sr. The operation of a 3D MOT of 133Cs, loaded from a 2D MOT, is demonstrated, and provisions for MOTs of Rb and K in the same vacuum manifold exist. We demonstrate the trapping of 7Li+ and 133Cs+ at different settings of the Paul trap and their detection using an integrated time-of-flight mass spectrometer. We present results on low energy neutral–neutral collisions (133Cs–133Cs, 7Li–7Li, and 133Cs–7Li collisions) and charge–neutral collisions (133Cs+–133Cs and 7Li+–7Li collisions). We show evidence of sympathetic cooling of 7Li+ (133Cs+) due to collisions with the ultracold 7Li (133Cs). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]