Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Tightly Confining dc Magnetic Trap.

Bose-Einstein condensation of sodium atoms has been observed in a novel {open_quote}{open_quote}cloverleaf{close_quote}{close_quote} trap. This trap combines tight confinement with excellent optical access, using only dc electromagnets. Evaporative cooling in this trap produced condensates of 5{times}10{sup 6} atoms, a tenfold improvement over previous results. We measured the condensate fraction and the repulsive mean-field energy, finding agreement with theoretical predictions. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society.}