We construct a compact experimental apparatus for producing high-repetition-rate ultra cold 87Rb atom based on an external atom chip. Initially, we produce an atomic flux from a 2D+ MOT (magneto-optical trap) in a nearly isolated 2D+ MOT chamber and improve the flux by adjusting the cooling beam detuning of the 2D+ MOT. The flux is trapped in the 3D MOT for 1.2 s and is further cooled by performing compressing the MOT for 20 ms and using polarization gradient cooling for 6.2 ms. After optical pumping into the 5S F = 2 (m F = 2) ground state, we transport atoms toward the chip surface by performing external Z coil trapping. At 1 mm below the chip surface, the external Z coil trap is completely switched to an atom chip trap by using a Z wire and a dimple wire on the chip with external bias fields. The transport and the switching take totally 520 ms. The number of atoms trapped on the atom chip is measured to be about 2 × 107. After the atoms has been compressed for 100 ms to increase trap frequencies, we perform RF evaporative cooling in the RF frequency range from 32 MHz to 6.82 MHz for 2.4 seconds. The final number of atoms in the atomic cloud after RF cooling is 1.2 × 105 atoms, and we are able to observe some Bose-Einstein condensation. The repetition rate for producing the condensation is 0.234 Hz. In this paper, we describe our experimental apparatus and processes.
We present an experimental apparatus that produces Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of
87Rb atoms at a rate of 1 Hz. As a demonstration of the system's ability to operate continuously, 30 BECs were produced and imaged in 32.1 s. Without imaging, a single BEC could be produced in 953 ms. The system uses an atom chip to confine atoms in a dimple trap with frequencies exceeding 1 kHz. With this tight trap, the duration of evaporative cooling was reduced to less than 0.5 s. Using principal component analysis, insight into the largest sources of noise and drift was obtained by extracting the dominant contributions to the variance. The system utilizes a compact physics package that can be integrated with lasers and electronics to create a transportable ultracold-atom device for applications outside of a laboratory environment.
Atom chips are an excellent tool for studying ultracold degenerate quantum gases, due to the high degree of controllability afforded by the precise potentials generated from the current-carrying microfabricated wires on the chip surface. The geometries of the trapping potentials are inherently capable of realising extreme aspect ratios, and therefore creating model systems with effectively reduced dimensionality, particularly the theoretically-tractable one-dimensional Bose gas. In addition, the temporal tunability makes it possible to impart non-adiabatic changes on the trapping potentials, allowing experimental investigation of samples which have been brought out of equilibrium - a situation which is not fully theoretically understood. This thesis describes the implementation, development and characterisation of an experimental system for producing the first Bose-Einstein condensates of atomic rubidium 87 gas trapped on the surface of an atom chip in Nottingham. Such an apparatus is very complex and requires careful characterisation in order to run in a stable and reliable way. Details of the experimental setup are thoroughly outlined, including the vacuum system, lasers, electronics, computer control and timing, and the optical imaging system. A newly installed compact two-dimensional magneto-optical trap provides an loading rate of 5e7 atoms per second for loading a three-dimensional mirror-magneto-optical trap with 1.5e8 atoms, at a temperature of 300uK within 10s. The cloud is then sub-Doppler cooled to 50uK, and spin-polarised with 96% purity into the |F=2,mF=+2> ground state within 5ms, in preparation for loading a purely magnetic trap. A millimeter sized copper Z-shaped conductor located beneath the atom chip surface creates a Ioffe-Pritchard magnetic trap, into which the laser cooled cloud is loaded with 70% efficiency, and can be held with a vacuum-limited lifetime of 40s. Evaporative cooling then pre-cools the sample to below 20uK within 10s, to allow the subsequent loading into potentials created by the atom chip with 100% efficiency. A final evaporation stage then cools the cloud below the phase transition temperature of 800nK, resulting finally in pure BECs with
105 atoms confined using the atom chip. Key measurements of various properties of the trapped condensates are presented, which are important in order to characterise the system fully, and to compare with theoretical expectations. In particular, included are the variation of condensate fraction with temperature, the BEC expansion dynamics, and the condensate lifetime in the trap, for example. Finally, it is demonstrated how BECs can be produced on the atom chip without the use of external macroscopic coils, achieved by using novel, integrated sheet structures located beneath the chip surface - unique to this experimental system - to create the necessary bias fields.