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Journal of Physics B Atomic Molecular and Optical Physics

Miniature Bose–Einstein condensate system design based on a transparent atom chip

Jun Jie Cheng, Xiaolin Li, Jingfang Zhang, Xinping Xu, Xiaojun Jiang, Haichao Zhang, Yuzhu Wang

Published Jul 22, 2016• 3 citations
Publisher

Abstract

Abstract We propose a new miniature Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) system based on a transparent atom chip with a compact external coil structure. A standard six-beam macroscopic magneto-optical trap (MOT) is able to be created near the chip surface due to the chip’s transparency. A novel wire pattern consisting of a double-z wire and a z-shaped wire is designed on the transparent atom chip. With a vertical bias magnetic field, the double-z wire can create the quadrupole magnetic field of an intermediate chip MOT, which is suitable for transporting atoms from the macroscopic MOT to the chip z-wire trap efficiently. The compact external coil structure is designed with a rectangular frameless geometry consisting of only four coil pairs and its volume is less than 0.3 liters. The maximum system power consumption during the BEC generation procedure is about 45 W. The miniature system is evaluated, and about 3 × 10 6 atoms can be loaded into the chip z-wire trap. The miniature chip BEC system has the advantages of small volume and low power consumption, and it has great potential for practical applications of BEC.

DOI
10.1088/0953-4075/49/16/165301

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Abstract We propose a new miniature Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) system based on a transparent atom chip with a compact external coil structure. A standard six-beam macroscopic magneto-optical trap (MOT) is able to be created near the chip surface due to the chip’s transparency. A novel wire pattern consisting of a double-z wire and a z-shaped wire is designed on the transparent atom chip. With a vertical bias magnetic field, the double-z wire can create the quadrupole magnetic field of an intermediate chip MOT, which is suitable for transporting atoms from the macroscopic MOT to the chip z-wire trap efficiently. The compact external coil structure is designed with a rectangular frameless geometry consisting of only four coil pairs and its volume is less than 0.3 liters. The maximum system power consumption during the BEC generation procedure is about 45 W. The miniature system is evaluated, and about 3 × 10 6 atoms can be loaded into the chip z-wire trap. The miniature chip BEC system has the advantages of small volume and low power consumption, and it has great potential for practical applications of BEC.
In this paper, we have developed a combined magnetic field system to explore an alternative technical route for the generation of Bose–Einstein condensates containing numerous atoms on an atom chip. The system is characterized by the fact that the quadrupole magnetic field required by the magneto-optic trap is generated by U-shaped current-carrying wires combined with bias magnetic fields, whereas the quadrupole magnetic field adopted for the magnetic trap is generated by anti-Helmholtz coils. By fine-tuning the bias magnetic fields, the collection of atoms in the mirror MOT and the loading of the quadrupole magnetic trap can be optimized. The initial number of [Formula: see text]Rb atoms in the magnetic trap is approximately [Formula: see text], and the lifetime of the atoms is over 30 s. This scheme can facilitate the chip-surface design and is suitable for the precise manipulation of Bose–Einstein condensates near the chip surface.
We demonstrate a new magneto-optical trap (MOT) configuration using a simple pair of crossed wires rotated at 45 deg and an appropriate bias field to generate a MOT of >10^8 atoms. The same pair of wires, with slightly adjusted control parameters, is then used to magnetically trap the atoms and cool them via forced evaporative cooling into a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) with >10^4 atoms. We present the theoretical framework for generating a quadrupole field using a pair of crossed wires with arbitrary rotation angle, along with the atom chip design and fabrication. Finally, we describe the experimental protocols required for BEC production using only a single crossed-wire atom chip.
An array of square current-carrying wires is proposed to construct a two-dimensional (2D) array of surface magneto-optical traps and Ioffe magnetic ones for realizing a 2D lattice of Bose-Einstein condensations (BECs) on an atom chip. Our study shows that when a vertical homogeneous bias magnetic field is only used, the wires will form a 2D array of quadrupole magnetic traps, which can be used to construct 2D lattice of surface magneto-optical micro-traps. While another horizontal homogeneous bias field is added simultaneously, the above 2D array of quadrupole micro-traps will be changed as an array of surface Ioffe micro-traps, which can be used to form a 2D magnetic lattice and then realize a 2D array of BECs. The dynamic loading process of cold (87)Rb atoms from each micro-MOT into Ioffe micro-trap is studied by using Monte-Carlo simulations, and our results show that the scheme can be used to realize a natural and effective loading of cold atoms from 2D array of micro-MOTs into 2D array of Ioffe micro-traps, and the loading efficiency can be reach ~ 65%. Moreover, the positions of each BEC (or MOT) in 2D array of magnetic micro-traps can be controlled by adjusting the currents in the wires or by changing the additional vertical bias field.
We construct a compact experimental apparatus for producing high-repetition-rate ultra cold 87Rb atom based on an external atom chip. Initially, we produce an atomic flux from a 2D+ MOT (magneto-optical trap) in a nearly isolated 2D+ MOT chamber and improve the flux by adjusting the cooling beam detuning of the 2D+ MOT. The flux is trapped in the 3D MOT for 1.2 s and is further cooled by performing compressing the MOT for 20 ms and using polarization gradient cooling for 6.2 ms. After optical pumping into the 5S F = 2 (m F = 2) ground state, we transport atoms toward the chip surface by performing external Z coil trapping. At 1 mm below the chip surface, the external Z coil trap is completely switched to an atom chip trap by using a Z wire and a dimple wire on the chip with external bias fields. The transport and the switching take totally 520 ms. The number of atoms trapped on the atom chip is measured to be about 2 × 107. After the atoms has been compressed for 100 ms to increase trap frequencies, we perform RF evaporative cooling in the RF frequency range from 32 MHz to 6.82 MHz for 2.4 seconds. The final number of atoms in the atomic cloud after RF cooling is 1.2 × 105 atoms, and we are able to observe some Bose-Einstein condensation. The repetition rate for producing the condensation is 0.234 Hz. In this paper, we describe our experimental apparatus and processes.
Magneto-optical traps on atom chips are usually restricted to small atomic samples due to a limited capture volume caused primarily by distorted field configurations. Here we present a magneto-optical trap based on a millimeter-sized wire structure which generates a magnetic field with minimized distortions. Together with the loading from a high-flux two-dimensional magneto-optical trap, we achieve a loading rate of $8.4\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{10}$ atoms/s and maximum number of $8.7\ifmmode\times\else\texttimes\fi{}{10}^{9}$ captured atoms. The wire structure is placed outside of the vacuum to enable a further adaptation to new scientific objectives. Since all magnetic fields are applied locally without the need for external bias fields, the presented setup will facilitate parallel generation of Bose-Einstein condensates on a conveyor belt with a cycle rate above 111 Hz.
Since their initial production in 1995, the study of Bose-Einstein Condensates (BECs) has offered exciting new insights into many fields including quantum mechanics and solid state physics. Atom chips, non-conducting surfaces with conducting lithographic traces printed on them, have proven successful in generating lower power magnetic traps for the formation of BECs. The combination of their lower power consumption, small form factor, and dense traps makes atom chips a promising way to face a ubiquitous challenge in the study of BECs: the effect of the earth’s gravitational field. To avoid these effects the NASA Cold Atom Laboratory aims to create BECs aboard the International Space Station (ISS) using an atom chip. This thesis presents the development of a similar atom chip based BEC experiment at Bates College, which will serve as a functional testbed for future research aboard the ISS. Both a theoretical background and a description of the experimental process by which a BEC is formed on an atom chip are provided. This process is primarily driven by laser cooling and magnetic trapping techniques. A 2D+ Magneto-Optical Trap (MOT), loaded from vapor pressure, is used as a slowed source of 87Rb in order to create a 3D MOT. We present measurements of the performance of both MOTs, and outline a path forward to condensation on the chip-based magnetic trap through use of radiofrequency evaporative cooling.