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arXiv:quant-ph/0306111 · Physical Review Letters

Trapping and Manipulating Neutral Atoms with Electrostatic Fields

P. Krüger, Xiaojia Luo, Martin Klein, K. Brugger, Albrecht Haase, Stephan Wildermuth, S. Groth, I. Bar‐Joseph, R. Folman, Jörg Schmiedmayer

Published Dec 2, 2003• 87 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

We report on experiments with cold thermal (7)Li atoms confined in combined magnetic and electric potentials. A novel type of three-dimensional trap was formed by modulating a magnetic guide using electrostatic fields. We observed atoms trapped in a string of up to six individual such traps, a controlled transport of an atomic cloud over a distance of 400 microm, and a dynamic splitting of a single trap into a double well potential. Applications for quantum information processing are discussed.

DOI
10.1103/physrevlett.91.233201

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We present a toolbox for cold atom manipulation with time-dependent magnetic fields generated by an atom chip. Wire layouts, detailed experimental procedures and results are presented for the following experiments: use of a magnetic conveyor belt for positioning of cold atoms and Bose–Einstein condensates (BECs) with a potential resolution of 2 nm; splitting of thermal clouds and BECs in adjustable magnetic double-well potentials; and controlled splitting of a cold reservoir. The devices that enable these manipulations can be combined with each other. We demonstrate this by combining reservoir splitter and conveyor belt to obtain a cold atom dispenser. We discuss the importance of these devices for quantum information processing, atom interferometry and Josephson junction physics on the chip. For all devices, absorption-image video sequences are provided to demonstrate their time-dependent behaviour.
Many proposals for quantum information processing require precise control over the motion of neutral atoms, as in the manipulation of coherent matter waves or the confinement and localization of individual atoms. Patterns of micron-sized wires, fabricated lithographically on a flat substrate, can conveniently produce large magnetic-field gradients and curvatures to trap cold atoms and to facilitate the production of Bose-Einstein condensates. This paper describes tools and techniques for the construction of such devices.
Many proposals for quantum information processing require precise control over the motion of neutral atoms, as in the manipulation of coherent matter waves or the confinement and localization of individual atoms. Patterns of micron-sized wires, fabricated lithographically on a flat substrate, can conveniently produce large magnetic-field gradients and curvatures to trap cold atoms and to facilitate the production of Bose-Einstein condensates. The intent of this paper is to provide the researcher who has access to a standard clean-room enough information to design and fabricate such devices.
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We demonstrate efficient loading of neutral atoms into a magnetic waveguide produced by the magnetic fields of microfabricated current-carrying conductors. The lithographically patterned conductors on this ``atom chip'' can be used to make a variety of guiding and trapping structures for manipulating cold atoms and Bose-Einstein condensates. A three-chamber vacuum apparatus collects atoms in a magneto-optical trap, precools them via evaporative cooling, and delivers them to the final chamber containing the atom chip. We describe in detail how the precooled atomic cloud is transferred from a macroscopic magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap to the microscopic magnetic waveguide on the atom chip 21cm21\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{cm}21cm away. Permanent magnets provide a confining two-dimensional quadrupole field to guide the atoms between the two chambers while longitudinally the cloud is allowed to freely expand during the transfer. Strategically placed coils are used to control the longitudinal size and speed of the atomic cloud as it is loaded on the atom chip.