Related papers: Microscopic atom optics: from wires to an atom chi…
Atoms can be trapped and guided using nano-fabricated wires on surfaces, achieving the scales required by quantum information proposals. These Atom Chips form the basis for robust and widespread applications of cold atoms ranging from atom…
We investigate the optical detection of single atoms held in a microscopic atom trap close to a surface. Laser light is guided by optical fibers or optical micro-structures via the atom to a photo-detector. Our results suggest that with…
We describe the realization of atom-optical elements as magnetic waveguide potentials, beam splitters and gravitational traps on a microchip. The microchip was produced by electroplating gold conductors on an aluminium-oxide substrate. The…
Ultra-cold atoms can be manipulated using microfabricated devices known as atom chips. These have significant potential for applications in sensing, metrology and quantum information processing. To date, the chips are loaded by transfer of…
We review recent progress at the Centre for Cold Matter in developing atom chips. An important advantage of miniaturizing atom traps on a chip is the possibility of obtaining very tight trapping structures with the capability of…
Magnetic microtraps and Atom Chips are safe, small-scale, reliable and flexible tools to prepare ultra-cold and degenerate atom clouds as sources for various atom-optical experiments. We present an overview of the possibilities of the…
We report on the integration of small-scale optical components into silicon wafers for use in atom chips. We present an on-chip fibre-optic atom detection scheme that can probe clouds with small atom numbers. The fibres can also be used to…
We describe experiments on trapping of atoms in microscopic magneto-optical traps on an optically transparent permanent-magnet atom chip. The chip is made of magnetically hard ferrite-garnet material deposited on a dielectric substrate. The…
Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) have been proposed for many applications in atom interferometry, as their coherence over long evolution times promises unprecedented sensitivity. To date, BECs can be efficiently created in devices using…
We have designed and experimentally studied a simple beam splitter for atoms guided on an Atom Chip, using a current carrying Y-shaped wire and a bias magnetic field. This beam splitter and other similar designs can be used to build atom…
We demonstrate the guiding of neutral atoms by the magnetic fields due to microfabricated current-carrying wires on a chip. Atoms are guided along a magnetic field minimum parallel to and above the current-carrying wires. Two waveguide…
Here we review the field of atom chips in the context of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BEC) as well as cold matter in general. Twenty years after the first realization of the BEC and fifteen years after the realization of the atom chip, the…
Magnetic trapping potentials for atoms on atom chips are determined by the current flow in the chip wires. By modifying the shape of the conductor we can realize specialized current flow patterns and therefore micro-design the trapping…
In the last years, it was demonstrated that neutral molecules can be loaded on a microchip directly from a supersonic beam. The molecules are confined in microscopic traps that can be moved smoothly over the surface of the chip. Once the…
We demonstrate guiding of cold neutral atoms along a current carrying wire. Atoms either move in Kepler-like orbits around the wire or are guided in a potential tube on the side of the wire which is created by applying an additional…
Magneto-optical traps on atom chips are usually restricted to small atomic samples due to a limited capture volume caused primarily by distorted field configurations. Here we present a magneto-optical trap with minimized distortions based…
The use of a wire mesh facilitates creation of multiple optical traps for manipulation of small micron or sub-micron particles. Such an array of optical traps can be easily controlled. The trap that is formed in this manner is a continuous…
We have integrated magneto-optical traps (MOTs) into an atom chip by etching pyramids into a silicon wafer. These have been used to trap atoms on the chip, directly from a room temperature vapor of rubidium. This new atom trapping method…
Superconducting circuits based on Josephson junctions exhibit macroscopic quantum coherence and can behave like artificial atoms. Recent technological advances have made it possible to implement atomic-physics and quantum-optics experiments…
We have fabricated and tested an atom chip that operates as a matter wave interferometer. In this communication we describe the fabrication of the chip by ion-beam milling of gold evaporated onto a silicon substrate. We present data on the…