We present a new design for a directed high-flux, high-temperature atomic vapor source for use in atomic physics experiments conducted under vacuum. An externally heated nozzle made of an array of stainless steel microcapillaries produces a collimated atomic beam. Welded stainless steel construction allows for operation at high source temperatures without exposing delicate ConFlat vacuum flanges to thermal stress, greatly enhancing robustness compared to previously published designs. We report in operando performance measurements of an atomic beam of lithium at various operating temperatures.
A
87Rb Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) is produced in a portable atom-chip system less than $30\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}30\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}15\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{cm}$, where the ultrahigh vacuum is maintained by a small,
8L∕s, ion pump and nonevaporable getter. An aluminum nitride chip with lithographically patterned copper is used to seal the vacuum system, provide the electrical feedthroughs, and create the magnetic trap potentials. All cooling and trapping processes occur
0.6−−2.5mm from ambient laboratory air. A condensate of about 2000
87Rb atoms in
F=2,mF=2 is achieved after
4.21s of rf forced evaporation. A magneto-optical trap lifetime of
30s indicates the vacuum near the chip surface is about ${10}^{\ensuremath{-}10}\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\text{torr}$. This work suggests that a chip-based BEC-compatible vacuum system can occupy a volume of less than
0.5L.