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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A Mathematical Physical and Engineering Sciences

Magnetic microchip traps and single–atom detection

Romain Long, T. Steinmetz, Peter Hommelhoff, W. Hänsel, Theodor W. Hänsch, Jakob Reichel

Published Jul 15, 2003• 46 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Microchip traps provide a promising approach to quantum information processing and communication (QIPC) with neutral atoms: strong and complex potentials can be produced for acting on the qubit atoms, and the potentials can be scaled to higher qubit numbers by virtue of the microfabrication process. We describe experimental results that are relevant to use in QIPC, such as the transport of Bose-Einstein-condensed atomic ensembles along the chip surface with the help of a magnetic conveyor belt. The second part of the paper is devoted to single-atom detection on the chip.

DOI
10.1098/rsta.2003.1207

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Microchip traps provide a promising approach to quantum information processing and communication (QIPC) with neutral atoms: strong and complex potentials can be produced for acting on the qubit atoms, and the potentials can be scaled to higher qubit numbers by virtue of the microfabrication process. We describe experimental results that are relevant to use in QIPC, such as the transport of Bose-Einstein-condensed atomic ensembles along the chip surface with the help of a magnetic conveyor belt. The second part of the paper is devoted to single-atom detection on the chip.
Summary form only given. Neutral-atom manipulation using integrated micro-devices is a new extremely promising experimental approach to QIPC. In devices we call Atom Chips, atoms are trapped or move in microscopic potentials above a surface. The traps, guides, are formed by potentials created using electric, magnetic and light fields which originate in (microscopic) structures built on the surface of the Atom Chip. To execute a QIPC toolbox we plan to implement quantum optics techniques using integrated micro devices fabricated on the Atom Chip. We describe our recent experimental progress towards this goal, demonstrating the realisation of traps and guides for neutral atoms on a nanofabricated chip.
We report the coherent manipulation of internal states of neutral atoms in a magnetic microchip trap. Coherence lifetimes exceeding 1 s are observed with atoms at distances of 5-130 microm from the microchip surface. The coherence lifetime in the chip trap is independent of atom-surface distance within our measurement accuracy and agrees well with the results of similar measurements in macroscopic magnetic traps. Because of the absence of surface-induced decoherence, a miniaturized atomic clock with a relative stability in the 10(-13) range can be realized. For applications in quantum information processing, we propose to use microwave near fields in the proximity of chip wires to create potentials that depend on the internal state of the atoms.
We review our experiments on quantum information processing with neutral atoms in optical lattices and magnetic microtraps. Atoms in an optical lattice in the Mott insulator regime serve as a large qubit register. A spin-dependent lattice is used to split and delocalize the atomic wave functions in a controlled and coherent way over a defined number of lattice sites. This is used to experimentally demonstrate a massively parallel quantum gate array, which allows the creation of a highly entangled many-body cluster state through coherent collisions between atoms on neighbouring lattice sites. In magnetic microtraps on an atom chip, we demonstrate coherent manipulation of atomic qubit states and measure coherence lifetimes exceeding one second at micron-distance from the chip surface. We show that microwave near-fields on the chip can be used to create state-dependent potentials for the implementation of a quantum controlled phase gate with these robust qubit states. For single atom detection and preparation, we have developed high finesse fiber Fabry-Perot cavities and integrated them on the atom chip. We present an experiment in which we detected a very small number of cold atoms magnetically trapped in the cavity using the atom chip.
The article reviews briefly the rapidly evolving field of so-called atom chips for neutral atoms. Emphasis is placed on magnetic microtraps – on-chip Ioffe-Prichard and dimple trap issue is covered in some detail. The experimental setup for cooling and trapping 87Rb atoms is also presented together with some early results of on-chip magnetic trapping. Full Text: PDF References J. Schmiedmayer, "Guiding and trapping a neutral atom on a wire", Phys. Rev. A 52, R13 (1995). CrossRef M. H. Anderson, J. R. Ensher, M. R. Matthews, C. E. Wieman, and E. A. Cornell, "Observation of Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Dilute Atomic Vapor", Science 269, 198 (1995). CrossRef K. B. Davis, M.-O. Mewes, M. R. Andrews, N. J. van Druten, D. S. Durfee, D. M. Kurn et al., "Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Gas of Sodium Atoms", Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 3969 (1995). CrossRef J. D. Weinstein, K. G. Libbrecht, "Microscopic magnetic traps for neutral atoms", Phys. Rev. A 52, 4004 (1995). CrossRef D. Müller, D. Z. Anderson, R. J. Grow, P. D. D. Schwindt, and E. A. Cornell, "Guiding Neutral Atoms Around Curves with Lithographically Patterned Current-Carrying Wires", Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 5194 (1999). CrossRef N. H. Dekker, C. S. Lee, V. Lorent, J. H. Thywissen, S. P. Smith, M. Drndi et al., "Guiding Neutral Atoms on a Chip", Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1124 (2000). CrossRef J. Reichel, W. Hänsel, and T. W. Hänsch, "Atomic Micromanipulation with Magnetic Surface Traps", Phys. Rev. Lett. 83, 3398 (1999). CrossRef D. Cassettari, B. Hessmo, R. Folman, T. Maier, and J. Schmiedmayer, "Beam Splitter for Guided Atoms", Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 5483 (2000). CrossRef M. A. Cirone, A. Negretti, T. Calarco, P. Krüger, J. Schmiedmayer, "A simple quantum gate with atom chips", Eur. Phys. J. D 35, 165 (2005). CrossRef W. Hänsel, P. Hommelhoff, T. W. Hänsch, and J. Reichel, "Bose–Einstein condensation on a microelectronic chip", Nature 413, 498 (2001). CrossRef H. Ott, J. Fortagh, G. Schlotterbeck, A. Grossmann, and C. Zimmermann, "Bose-Einstein Condensation in a Surface Microtrap", Phys. Rev. Lett. 87, 230401 (2001). CrossRef Y. Lin, I. Teper, C. Chin, V. Vuletić, "Impact of the Casimir-Polder Potential and Johnson Noise on Bose-Einstein Condensate Stability Near Surfaces", Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 050404 (2004). CrossRef E. Salim, J. DeNatale, D. Farkas, K. Hudek, S. McBride, J. Michalchuk et al, "Compact, microchip-based systems for practical applications of ultracold atoms", Quantum Inf. Process. 10, 975 (2011). CrossRef S. Groth, Development, "Fabrication and Characterisation of Atom Chips", doctoral dissertation. (2006). R. Folman, P. Krüger, J. Schmiedmayer, J. Denschlag, C. Henkel, "Microscopic atom optics: From wires to an atom chip", Adv. At. Mol. Opt. Phys. 48, 263 (2002). CrossRef A. Arnold, Preparation and Manipulation of an 87Rb Bose-Einstein Condensate (University of Sussex 1999), PhD thesis. D. M. Farkas, K. M. Hudek, E. A. Salim, S. R. Segal, M. B. Squires, and D. Z. Anderson, "A compact, transportable, microchip-based system for high repetition rate production of Bose–Einstein condensates ", Appl. Phys. Lett. 96, 093102 (2010). CrossRef K. Dieckmann, R. J. C. Spreeuw, M. Weidemüller, and J. T. M. Walraven, "Two-dimensional magneto-optical trap as a source of slow atoms", Phys. Rev. A 58, 3891 (1998). CrossRef W. Petrich, M. H. Anderson, J. R. Ensher, and E. A. Cornell, "Behavior of atoms in a compressed magneto-optical trap", J. Opt. Soc. Am. B, 11, 1332 (1994). CrossRef
Neutral-atom manipulation using integrated micro-devices is a new promising experimental approach to QIPC. It combines the best of two worlds: The ability to use cold atoms-a well controllable quantum system, and the immense technological capabilities of nano fabrication and microelectronics to manipulate the atoms. We have experimentally realised such traps guides and beam splitters for neutral atoms on a micro-fabricated Atom Chip, and reached the basic trapping requirements set up by QIPC proposals.
The system comprised of an atom strongly coupled to photons, known as cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), provides a rich experimental setting for quantum information processing, both in the implementation of quantum logic gates and in the development of quantum networks. Moreover, studies of cavity QED will help elucidate the dynamics of continuously observed open quantum systems with quantum-limited feedback. To achieve these goals in cavity QED, a neutral atom must be tightly confined inside a high-finesse cavity with small mode volume for long periods of time. Microfabricated wires on a substrate---known as an atom chip---can create a sufficiently high-curvature magnetic potential to trap atoms in the Lamb-Dicke regime. We have recently integrated an optical fiber Fabry-Perot cavity with such a device. The microwires allow the on-chip collection and laser cooling of neutral atoms, and allow the magnetic waveguiding of these atoms to an Ioffe trap inside the cavity mode. Magnetically trapped intracavity atoms have been detected with this cavity QED system. A similar experiment employing microdisks and photonic bandgap cavities is nearing completion. With these more exotic cavities, a robust and scalable atom-cavity chip system will deeply probe the strong coupling regime of cavity QED with magnetically trapped atoms. Atom chips have found great success in producing and manipulating Bose-Einstein condensates and in creating novel atom optical elements. An on-chip BEC has been attained in a miniaturized system incorporating an atom chip designed for atom interferometry and for studies of Josephson effects of a BEC in a double-well potential. Using similar microfabrication techniques, we created and demonstrated a specular magnetic atom mirror formed from a standard computer hard drive. This device, in conjunction with micron-sized charged circular pads, can produce a 1-D ring trap which may prove useful for studying Tonks gases in a ring geometry and for creating devices such as a SQUID-like system for neutral atoms. This thesis describes the fabrication and employment of these atoms chips in experiments at both Caltech and Munich, the latter in collaboration with Professors Theodore Haensch and Jakob Reichel at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics.