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Physical Review Letters

Magnetic Waveguide for Trapping Cold Atom Gases in Two Dimensions

Edward A. Hinds, M. G. Boshier, Ifan G. Hughes

Published Jan 26, 1998• 92 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We have devised a way to trap atoms above a magnetic surface using the Zeeman effect. The method is generally applicable to any paramagnetic atom with hyperfine structure and results in very strong confinement and, hence, a high vibrational frequency perpendicular to the surface. This allows the atomic de Broglie wave to propagate as in a single-mode 2D waveguide. We show how atoms can be continuously and unidirectionally coupled with high efficiency into the lowest mode of the waveguide. This invention makes possible the study of weakly interacting gases in 2D.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.80.645

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We have devised a way to trap atoms above a magnetic surface using the Zeeman effect. The method is generally applicable to any paramagnetic atom with hyperfine structure and results in very strong confinement and, hence, a high vibrational frequency perpendicular to the surface. This allows the atomic de Broglie wave to propagate as in a single-mode 2D waveguide. We show how atoms can be continuously and unidirectionally coupled with high efficiency into the lowest mode of the waveguide. This invention makes possible the study of weakly interacting gases in 2D.
A method for creating miniature quadrupole traps for atoms is proposed. The method uses pairs of micro-fabricated dipole magnets to create a quadrupole field for trapping atoms in two dimensions while allowing free propagation in the third. When the dimensions of the trap are comparable with the de Broglie wavelengths of the atoms, the device becomes an atom waveguide. In this paper we discuss the properties of the magnetic dipoles, methods for their manufacture and present the de Broglie wave modes of an example waveguide. The method can be extended to create many different atom-optical devices on a substrate leading to the possibility of monolithic, integrated atom-optics devices.
Two-dimensional systems are of great interest in physics as the celebrated quantum-Hall effects show, which are based on a 2D electron gas. Neutral systems involve thin He films and spin polarized atomic hydrogen in a cryogenic environment, where the successful creation of a 2D quasi-condensate was recently reported. Over the last years, with laser cooling and trapping techniques at hand, several schemes for the preparation of laser cooled atomic 2D gases have been proposed. Low dimensional gases are discussed as keys to achieve high density samples of purely optically cooled atoms, since the reabsorption of scattered photons is greatly suppressed compared to the situation in 3D. On the other hand, by structuring 2D waveguide light fields laterally, very versatile "integrated atom optical" elements can be realized. We have prepared a quasi-2D gas of argon atoms confined in a planar matter waveguide less than 1 /spl mu/m away from a reflecting surface. We trap metastable Ar/sup +/ atoms in the ls/sub 5/(J=2) state in a magneto-optical trap. Upon release, they fall towards a gold coated prism surface where an evanescent light field is generated by resonant excitation of surface plasmons in the gold layer. This light field is blue detuned from the 1s/sub 5//spl hArr/2p/sub 9/(J=3) transition and hence creates a repulsive potential which slows down the falling atoms.
We describe the design and function of a circular magnetic waveguide produced from wires on a microchip for atom interferometry using de Broglie waves. The guide is a two-dimensional magnetic minimum for trapping weak-field seeking states of atoms or molecules with a magnetic dipole moment. The design consists of seven circular wires sharing a common radius. We describe the design, the time-dependent currents of the wires and show that it is possible to form a circular waveguide with adjustable height and gradient while minimizing perturbation resulting from leads or wire crossings. This maximal area geometry is suited for rotation sensing with atom interferometry via the Sagnac effect using either cold atoms, molecules and Bose-condensed systems.
A cloud of laser-cooled 85Rb atoms is coupled through a magnetic funnel into a miniature waveguide formed by four current-carrying wires embedded in a silica fiber. The atom cloud has a approximately 100 &mgr;m radius within the fiber and propagates over cm distances. We study the coupling, propagation, and transverse distribution of atoms in the fiber, and find good agreement with theory. This prototype demonstrates the feasibility of miniature guides as a tool in the new field of integrated atom optics, leading to single-mode propagation of de Broglie waves and the possible preparation of 1D atom clouds.
Atom optical analoga exist for many light-optical elements like mirrors, lenses and beam splitters. Light - or generally electromagnetic fields - and matter virtually exchange roles: Optical elements correspond to electromagnetic fields and light fields to matter waves. The goal of this thesis was to realize a de Broglie waveguide: A standing wave was generated by reflecting a laser beam on a gold coated prism surface. Near the resonance frequency of an atomic transition in metastable argon the light field exercises a dipole force, which can be described by a potential proportional to the intensity distribution of the interferece patterns of the light field. Atoms with small enough kinetic energy can be stored in the potential minima. In longitudinal direction to the standing wave the center of mass motion of these atoms is strongly confined. It is characterised by a discreet quantum mechanical mode structure where the energy distance of the indivdual motional states is big compared to their uncertainty. Transversally the atoms can virtually move freely, i.e. their mode spectrum is continual. Therefore one single potential minimum can be considered a resonator for atomic de Broglie waves and can be regarded as the atom optical analogon of a two-dimensial waveguide in light optics. A de Broglie waveguide provides a possiblity of examining a nearly two-dimensional gas of ultracold atoms in front of a surface. Moreover a continuous laser-like source of atoms may be realized on this basis.