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Physical Review Letters

Atomic Micromanipulation with Magnetic Surface Traps

Jakob Reichel, W. Hänsel, Theodor W. Hänsch

Published Oct 25, 1999• 412 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe manipulation of neutral atoms using the magnetic field of microfabricated current-carrying conductors. It is shown how this method can be used to achieve adiabatic magnetic transport from one reservoir to another. In the first experimental realization of a microfabricated magnetic neutral-atom trap, efficient loading is achieved with a novel mirror-magneto-optic trap. A cloud of rubidium atoms is stored and compressed using the magnetic field of a ``U''-shaped wire carrying a current of 2 A. An evaporation mechanism is demonstrated which removes hot atoms from the trap by collisions with the substrate surface.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.83.3398

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We describe manipulation of neutral atoms using the magnetic field of microfabricated current-carrying conductors. It is shown how this method can be used to achieve adiabatic magnetic transport from one reservoir to another. In the first experimental realization of a microfabricated magnetic neutral-atom trap, efficient loading is achieved with a novel mirror-magneto-optic trap. A cloud of rubidium atoms is stored and compressed using the magnetic field of a ``U''-shaped wire carrying a current of 2 A. An evaporation mechanism is demonstrated which removes hot atoms from the trap by collisions with the substrate surface.
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We present an integrated wire-based magneto-optical trap for the simplified trapping and cooling of large numbers of neutral atoms near material surfaces. With a modified U\mathrm{U}U-shaped current-carrying Cu\text{Cu}Cu structure we collect more than $3\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{8}$ 87Rb^{87}\mathrm{Rb}87Rb atoms in a mirror magneto-optical trap without using quadrupole coils. These atoms are subsequently loaded to a Z\mathrm{Z}Z-wire trap where they are evaporatively cooled to a Bose-Einstein condensate close to the surface.
We report progress in our project on Integrated Atom Optics. We are exploring methods of producing surface-based microscopic atom optical elements that are made from permanent magnetic films and current-carrying microwires. We will discuss different configurations of microtraps, waveguides and couplers that can manipulate atomic de Broglie waves on the surface of a substrate. In particular we will describe the characteristics of a mirror magneto-optical trap that has allowed trapping of rubidium atoms in vicinity of a surface.
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We describe planar and mostly planar current geometries for constructing microscopic magnetic traps for neutral atoms. These geometries are well-suited for fabrication from superconductors using standard microfabrication techniques. Magnetic-field gradients greater than 5\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}105{10}^{5}105 G/cm, and field curvatures greater than 108{10}^{8}108 G/cm2{\mathrm{cm}}^{2}cm2 can be produced in microscopic traps. Trap loading could be accomplished by constructing a nested series of traps, and compressing atom clouds from larger traps into smaller ones. In the smallest magnetic microtraps the motional ground-state energy of atoms in the trap can exceed the recoil energy from resonant photons, which may allow direct laser cooling to the trap ground state. If a number of atoms can be simultaneously cooled to the ground state, the resulting ``Bose clusters'' should exhibit interesting optical behavior, since their spatial extent would be less than the resonant light wavelength.
We demonstrate the loading of a miniaturized magnetic guide for neutral atoms made of small-size current conductors. Cold rubidium atoms are initially stored in a shallow spherical quadrupole field and subsequently transferred into the magnetic guide by gradually transforming the trapping potential. Density, temperature, and atom number have been monitored in situ by absorption imaging with a charge-coupled device camera. A fraction of 1414%14 of the initially trapped atoms has been transferred into the linear microtrap at a temperature of $39\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{K}$.