Related papers: Microchip-Based Trapped-Atom Clocks
Most atomic physics experiments are controlled by a digital pattern generator used to synchronize all equipment by providing triggers and clocks. Recently, the availability of well-documented open-source development tools has lifted the…
We investigate the operation of pyramidal magneto-optical traps (MOTs) microfabricated in silicon. Measurements of the loading and loss rates give insight into the role of the nearby surface in the MOT dynamics. Studies of the fluorescence…
We describe an array of microscopic atom traps formed by a pattern of magnetisation on a piece of videotape. We describe the way in which cold atoms are loaded into one of these micro-traps and how the trapped atom cloud is used to explore…
With the advent of optical clocks featuring fractional frequency uncertainties on the order of $10^{-17}$ and below, new applications such as chronometric levelling with few-cm height resolution emerge. We are developing a transportable…
All clocks, classical or quantum, are open non equilibrium irreversible systems subject to the constraints of thermodynamics. Using examples I show that these constraints necessarily limit the performance of clocks and that good clocks…
What if a clock could do more than tell time - what if it could look around? This project explores the conceptualization, design, and construction of a timepiece with visual perception capabilities, featuring three types of human-time…
Arrays of trapped atoms are the ideal starting point for developing registers comprising large numbers of physical qubits for storing and processing quantum information. One very promising approach involves neutral atom traps produced on…
Optical clocks benefit from tight atomic confinement enabling extended interrogation times as well as Doppler- and recoil-free operation. However, these benefits come at the cost of frequency shifts that, if not properly controlled, may…
Theories unifying gravity and other interactions suggest the possibility of spatial and temporal variation of physical ``constants''. Accuracy achieved for the atomic optical frequency standards (optical clocks) approaches the level when…
Lithographically fabricated circuit patterns can provide magnetic guides and microtraps for cold neutral atoms. By combining several such structures on the same ceramic substrate, we have realized the first ``atom chips'' that permit…
Trapped ions are among the leading candidates for quantum computing technologies. Interfacing ion qubits in separate traps and interfacing ion qubits with superconducting qubits are two of the many challenges to scale up quantum computers.…
The first generation of quantum computers are on the horizon, fabricated from quantum hardware platforms that may soon be able to tackle certain tasks that cannot be performed or modelled with conventional computers. These quantum devices…
In this paper I discuss the concept of time in physics. I consider the thermal time hypothesis and I claim that thermal clocks and atomic clocks measure different physical times, whereby thermal time and relativistic time are not compatible…
Magneto-optical traps are central to atomic and molecular quantum technologies and precision tests of fundamental physics, where both sensitivity and bandwidth scale strongly with atom number and loading rate. We demonstrate that employing…
Superconductors are considered in view of applications to atom chip devices. The main features of magnetic traps based on superconducting wires in the Meissner and mixed states are discussed. The former state may mainly be interesting for…
Magnetic traps for cold atoms have become a powerful tool of cold atom physics and condense matter research. The traps on superconducting chips allow one to increase the trapped atom life- and coherence time by decreasing the thermal noise…
We present a toolbox for cold atom manipulation with time-dependent magnetic fields generated by an atom chip. Wire layouts, detailed experimental procedures and results are presented for the following experiments: Use of a magnetic…
Ion traps, which were first introduced in the late 1950s and early 1960s, have established themselves as indispensable tools in many areas of physics, chemistry and technology. This chapter gives a brief survey of the operating principles…
Wide classes of new fundamental physics theories cause apparent variations in particle mass ratios in space and time. In theories that violate the weak equivalence principle (EP), those variations are not uniform across all particles and…
We report on a theoretical analysis of the phase-shift in compact atomic clocks working either with cold or thermal atoms. It is well known that in a microwave cavity with electromagnetic losses, a traveling wave adds to the standing wave…