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Reconfigurable arrays of trapped single atoms are an excellent platform for the simulation of many-body physics and the realisation of high-fidelity quantum gates. The confinement of atoms is often achieved with focussed laser beams acting…
Deterministic optical manipulation of fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) in fluids has emerged as an experimental challenge in multimodal biological imaging. Designing and developing nano-optical trapping strategies to serve this purpose is an…
In most experiments with atoms trapped in optical lattices, the transverse size of the optical lattice beams is on the order of tens of micrometers, and loading many atoms into smaller optical lattices has not been carefully investigated.…
The capture of a moving atom by a non-dissipative trap, such as an optical dipole trap, requires the removal of the excessive kinetic energy of the atom. In this article we develop a mechanism to harvest ultra cold atoms from a guided atom…
The angular response of thin diffractive optical elements is highly correlated. For example, the angles of incidence and diffraction of a grating are locked through the grating momentum determined by the grating period. Other diffractive…
We propose a new geometry of optical lattice for cold atoms, namely a lattice made of a 1D stack of dark ring traps. It is obtained through the interference pattern of a standard Gaussian beam with a counter-propagating hollow beam obtained…
We present a novel technique for measuring the characteristics of a magneto-optical trap for cold atoms by monitoring the spontaneous emission from trapped atoms coupled into the guided mode of a tapered optical nanofiber. We show that the…
On-chip optical trapping systems allow for high scalability and lower the barrier to access. Systems capable of trapping multiple particles typically come with high cost and complexity. Here we present a technique for making parabolic…
Recently, there has been an explosion of interest in metalenses for imaging. The interest is primarily based on their sub-wavelength thicknesses. Diffractive lenses have been used as thin lenses since the late 19th century. Here, we show…
An experimental demonstration of a novel all-optical technique for loading ion traps, that has particular application to microtrap architectures, is presented. The technique is based on photo-ionisation of an atomic beam created by pulsed…
We use laser light shaped by a digital micro-mirror device to realize arbitrary optical dipole potentials for one-dimensional (1D) degenerate Bose gases of 87Rb trapped on an atom chip. Superposing optical and magnetic potentials combines…
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…
A magneto-optical trap of cesium atoms was generated by applying a circularly polarized cooling laser beam onto a reflective two-dimensional diffraction grating with an aperture and by retroreflecting the incident beam passing through the…
A three-dimensional magneto-optical trap (MOT), as an efficient method of producing cold atoms from room-temperature atomic vapor, has been widely used to develop atomic sensors. Various compact MOTs using a single laser beam have been…
We describe the implementation of a system for studying light-matter interactions using an ensemble of $10^6$ cold rubidium 87 atoms, trapped in a single-beam optical dipole trap. In this configuration the elongated shape of the atomic…
We present the design of a diffraction limited, long working distance monochromatic objective lens for efficient light collection. Consisting of four spherical lenses, it has a numerical aperture of 0.29, an effective focal length of 36 mm…
Today's best optical lattice clocks are based on the spectroscopy of trapped alkaline-earth-like atoms such as ytterbium and strontium atoms. The development towards mobile or even space-borne clocks necessitates concepts for the compact…
We present simulations of an efficient high numerical aperture solid immersion metalens concept for fluorescence microscopy. The technique exploits the preferential emission of interfacial dipoles into a high refractive index substrate…
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…
Optical trapping has proven to be a valuable experimental technique for precisely controlling small dielectric objects. However, due to their very nature, conventional optical traps are diffraction limited and require high intensities to…