Bose-Einstein condensates on an atom chips
Chris J. Vale, Adrian Ratnapala, S. Holt, D. Turk, T. J. Campey, Matthew J. Davis, N. R. Heckenberg, Halina H. Rubinsztein-Dunlop
Abstract
Atom chips are a reliable and versatile tool for the production and control of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs). They also offer the possibility of realising new, chip-based quantum devices. We have recently produced BECs on an atom chip fabricated with silver foil. Because of its high current capacity, our chip can produce moderately tight traps at distances further from the chip surface, avoiding losses and fragmentation of condensates seen on other experiments. We will also report on our progress towards efficient atom detection using a STIRAP based photoionisation scheme.