Enhanced inelastic scattering rates of cold atomic chromium

Inelastic scattering rates for magnetically trapped atomic chromium are determined for temperatures of 2 mK and higher. It is found that the rate is very large (2×10-9 cm3/s at 4 mK) and has a strong dependence on temperature. The origin of this structure in the inelastic rate remains for theoretical explanation. These experiments show that, even with bad inelastic rates, the efficacy of buffer-gas loading in producing large numbers of cold atoms is quite good.