On the possibility of using dark magneto-optical lattices to achieve Bose condensation of atoms

We show that in dark magneto-optical lattices, effects associated with the Bose statistics of atoms can be observed even at laser cooling temperatures (10(-4)-10(-6) K), which exceed evaporative cooling temperatures in magnetic traps by several orders of magnitude. Quasicondensation occurs, i.e., the wave function is formed over the distances on which atoms are localized near the bottom of a separate potential well. In addition, switching off the magnetic field adiabatically reduces the temperature significantly, as a result of which Bose condensation in the entire volume of the gas can be observed. We propose a configuration of the light and magnetic fields in which the shape of the three-dimensional magneto-optical potential is independent of the phases of the emerging light waves. (C) 1998 American Institute of Physics.