Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics

Loading, guiding, and manipulating neutral atoms in atom chip magnetic traps

David C. Aveline, Robert J. Thompson, Nathan E. Lundblad, Nan Yu, James M. Kohel, Lute Maleki

Published Jan 1, 2006• 0 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe a method of efficiently loading and manipulating neutral atoms in atom chip traps. Cooled87Rb from a MOT is transported via coil-based magnetic traps into chip-based wire traps and precisely directed in wire-guides.
DOI
10.1109/cleo.2006.4628507

Related papers

Magnetic trapping on an atom chip

Dobrosława Bartoszek-Bober, Roman Panaś, Tomasz Kawalec

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

Photonics Letters of Poland•Oct 1, 2013•1 citation

Atom chips

R. Folman, P. Krüger, Donatella Cassettari +3 more

We report on the experimental realisation of traps and guides for neutral atoms on a nanofabricated chip. Our main results are: (a) Trap parameters with a transverse ground state size below 100 nm and frequencies of above 100 kHz (as required by QIP proposals) have been achieved. (b) We could trap and guide atoms exclusively with the fields created on the chip. (c) We have shown that a wide variety of magnetic potentials may be realised, such as quadrupole fields for a MOT, 3D minima for trapping, 2D minima for guiding, and beam splitters. (d) It has been shown that standard nanofabrication techniques and materials may he utilised to build these atom chips. The wires on the surface can stand sufficiently high current densities in vacuum and at room temperature.

•Jan 1, 2000•1 citation

Manipulating Neutral Atoms in Chip-Based Magnetic Traps

David C. Aveline, Robert J. Thompson, Nathan E. Lundblad +3 more

Several techniques for manipulating neutral atoms (more precisely, ultracold clouds of neutral atoms) in chip-based magnetic traps and atomic waveguides have been demonstrated. Such traps and waveguides are promising components of future quantum sensors that would offer sensitivities much greater than those of conventional sensors. Potential applications include gyroscopy and basic research in physical phenomena that involve gravitational and/or electromagnetic fields. The developed techniques make it possible to control atoms with greater versatility and dexterity than were previously possible and, hence, can be expected to contribute to the value of chip-based magnetic traps and atomic waveguides. The basic principle of these techniques is to control gradient magnetic fields with suitable timing so as to alter a trap to exert position-, velocity-, and/or time-dependent forces on atoms in the trap to obtain desired effects. The trap magnetic fields are generated by controlled electric currents flowing in both macroscopic off-chip electromagnet coils and microscopic wires on the surface of the chip. The methods are best explained in terms of examples. Rather than simply allowing atoms to expand freely into an atomic waveguide, one can give them a controllable push by switching on an externally generated or a chip-based gradient magnetic field. This push can increase the speed of the atoms, typically from about 5 to about 20 cm/s. Applying a non-linear magnetic-field gradient exerts different forces on atoms in different positions a phenomenon that one can exploit by introducing a delay between releasing atoms into the waveguide and turning on the magnetic field.

•May 1, 2009•1 citation

Guiding Neutral Atoms on a Chip

Nynke H. Dekker, C. S. Lee, V. Lorent +5 more

We demonstrate the guiding of neutral atoms by the magnetic fields due to microfabricated current-carrying wires on a chip. Atoms are guided along a magnetic field minimum parallel to and above the current-carrying wires. Two guide configurations are demonstrated: one using two wires with an external magnetic field, and a second using four wires without an external field. These guide geometries can be extended to integrated atom optics circuits, including beam splitters.

arXiv:physics/9908029•Physical Review Letters•Feb 7, 2000•270 citations

Microcavities on atom chips for single-atom detection

Albrecht Haase, Michael Schwarz, Marco Wilzbach +5 more

To demonstrate the feasibility of detecting magnetically trapped neutral atoms with "bad" cavities, a macroscopic nearly concentric cavity is built. Using this cavity,atoms guided with a free-standing current-carrying wire are detected.

European Quantum Electronics Conference (EQEC)•Jan 18, 2006•0 citations

Experiments in cold atom optics towards precision atom interferometry

David C. Aveline

Atom optics has been a highly active field of research with many scientific breakthroughs over the past two decades, largely due to successful advances in laser technology, microfabrication techniques, and the development of laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms. This dissertation details several atom optics experiments with the motivation to develop tools and techniques for precision atom wave interferometry. It provides background information about atom optics and the fundamentals behind laser cooling and trapping, including basic techniques for cold gas thermometry and absorptive detection of atoms. A brief overview of magnetic trapping and guiding in tight wire-based traps is also provided before the experimental details are presented. ❧ We developed a novel laser source of 780 nm light using frequency-doubled 1560 nm fiber amplifier. This laser system provided up to a Watt of tunable frequency stabilized light for two Rb laser cooling and trapping experiments. One system generates Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical trap while the second is based on atom chip magnetic traps. The atom chip system, detailed in this thesis, was designed and built to develop the tools necessary for transport and loading large numbers of cold atoms and explore the potential for guided atom interferometry. Techniques and results from this experiment are presented, including an efficient magnetic transport and loading method to deliver cold atom to atom chip traps. We also developed a modeling tool for the magnetic fields formed by coiled wire geometries, as well as planar wire patterns. These models helped us design traps and determine adiabatic transportation of cold atoms between macro-scale traps and micro-traps formed on atom chips. Having achieved near unity transfer efficiency, we demonstrated that this approach promises to be a consistent method for loading large numbers of atoms into micro-traps. Furthermore, we discuss an in situ imaging technique to investigate magnetic field contours of the traps and the dynamics of atoms within those confining potentials. We also controlled the propagation along the atom chip guides by accelerating atoms with longitudinal magnetic gradients, and investigated an atom focusing scheme. ❧ While the atom chip wire guides perform a role analogous to optical fibers guiding light waves, ""free space"" cold atoms offer great opportunity for precision interferometry. We describe a second on-going atom optics experiment that measures gravity gradients using a pair of atom fountain interferometers separated by one meter. We have demonstrated Gravity Gradiometer resolution down to 4x10⁻⁹ g/m using a 40 kg test mass. The atomic physics subsystem is described in detail, including the vacuum, cold atom source, optics, magnetic coils and shields, and vibration isolation and compensation. The system is designed to be a compact, robust, transportable instrument, taking strides towards future gravity gradient measurements in the field. In the realm of space applications, there has been interest for micro-gravity science experiments aboard the International Space Station, along with instrument development for gravity mapping of Earth and planetary bodies with satellite-based instruments. Furthermore, there are ground-based applications for gravity imaging of local density distributions, precision measurement of gravity, as well as proposals for redefining the kilogram, detecting gravitational waves and determining the Gravitational constant.

•Jan 1, 2015•1 citation
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
We report on the experimental realisation of traps and guides for neutral atoms on a nanofabricated chip. Our main results are: (a) Trap parameters with a transverse ground state size below 100 nm and frequencies of above 100 kHz (as required by QIP proposals) have been achieved. (b) We could trap and guide atoms exclusively with the fields created on the chip. (c) We have shown that a wide variety of magnetic potentials may be realised, such as quadrupole fields for a MOT, 3D minima for trapping, 2D minima for guiding, and beam splitters. (d) It has been shown that standard nanofabrication techniques and materials may he utilised to build these atom chips. The wires on the surface can stand sufficiently high current densities in vacuum and at room temperature.
Several techniques for manipulating neutral atoms (more precisely, ultracold clouds of neutral atoms) in chip-based magnetic traps and atomic waveguides have been demonstrated. Such traps and waveguides are promising components of future quantum sensors that would offer sensitivities much greater than those of conventional sensors. Potential applications include gyroscopy and basic research in physical phenomena that involve gravitational and/or electromagnetic fields. The developed techniques make it possible to control atoms with greater versatility and dexterity than were previously possible and, hence, can be expected to contribute to the value of chip-based magnetic traps and atomic waveguides. The basic principle of these techniques is to control gradient magnetic fields with suitable timing so as to alter a trap to exert position-, velocity-, and/or time-dependent forces on atoms in the trap to obtain desired effects. The trap magnetic fields are generated by controlled electric currents flowing in both macroscopic off-chip electromagnet coils and microscopic wires on the surface of the chip. The methods are best explained in terms of examples. Rather than simply allowing atoms to expand freely into an atomic waveguide, one can give them a controllable push by switching on an externally generated or a chip-based gradient magnetic field. This push can increase the speed of the atoms, typically from about 5 to about 20 cm/s. Applying a non-linear magnetic-field gradient exerts different forces on atoms in different positions a phenomenon that one can exploit by introducing a delay between releasing atoms into the waveguide and turning on the magnetic field.
Atom optics has been a highly active field of research with many scientific breakthroughs over the past two decades, largely due to successful advances in laser technology, microfabrication techniques, and the development of laser cooling and trapping of neutral atoms. This dissertation details several atom optics experiments with the motivation to develop tools and techniques for precision atom wave interferometry. It provides background information about atom optics and the fundamentals behind laser cooling and trapping, including basic techniques for cold gas thermometry and absorptive detection of atoms. A brief overview of magnetic trapping and guiding in tight wire-based traps is also provided before the experimental details are presented. ❧ We developed a novel laser source of 780 nm light using frequency-doubled 1560 nm fiber amplifier. This laser system provided up to a Watt of tunable frequency stabilized light for two Rb laser cooling and trapping experiments. One system generates Bose-Einstein condensates in an optical trap while the second is based on atom chip magnetic traps. The atom chip system, detailed in this thesis, was designed and built to develop the tools necessary for transport and loading large numbers of cold atoms and explore the potential for guided atom interferometry. Techniques and results from this experiment are presented, including an efficient magnetic transport and loading method to deliver cold atom to atom chip traps. We also developed a modeling tool for the magnetic fields formed by coiled wire geometries, as well as planar wire patterns. These models helped us design traps and determine adiabatic transportation of cold atoms between macro-scale traps and micro-traps formed on atom chips. Having achieved near unity transfer efficiency, we demonstrated that this approach promises to be a consistent method for loading large numbers of atoms into micro-traps. Furthermore, we discuss an in situ imaging technique to investigate magnetic field contours of the traps and the dynamics of atoms within those confining potentials. We also controlled the propagation along the atom chip guides by accelerating atoms with longitudinal magnetic gradients, and investigated an atom focusing scheme. ❧ While the atom chip wire guides perform a role analogous to optical fibers guiding light waves, ""free space"" cold atoms offer great opportunity for precision interferometry. We describe a second on-going atom optics experiment that measures gravity gradients using a pair of atom fountain interferometers separated by one meter. We have demonstrated Gravity Gradiometer resolution down to 4x10⁻⁹ g/m using a 40 kg test mass. The atomic physics subsystem is described in detail, including the vacuum, cold atom source, optics, magnetic coils and shields, and vibration isolation and compensation. The system is designed to be a compact, robust, transportable instrument, taking strides towards future gravity gradient measurements in the field. In the realm of space applications, there has been interest for micro-gravity science experiments aboard the International Space Station, along with instrument development for gravity mapping of Earth and planetary bodies with satellite-based instruments. Furthermore, there are ground-based applications for gravity imaging of local density distributions, precision measurement of gravity, as well as proposals for redefining the kilogram, detecting gravitational waves and determining the Gravitational constant.