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Bose–Einstein condensation on a microelectronic chip

Nature volume 413, pages 498–501 (2001)Cite this article

Abstract

Although Bose–Einstein condensates1,2,3 of ultracold atoms have been experimentally realizable for several years, their formation and manipulation still impose considerable technical challenges. An all-optical technique4 that enables faster production of Bose–Einstein condensates was recently reported. Here we demonstrate that the formation of a condensate can be greatly simplified using a microscopic magnetic trap on a chip5. We achieve Bose–Einstein condensation inside the single vapour cell of a magneto-optical trap in as little as 700 ms—more than a factor of ten faster than typical experiments, and a factor of three faster than the all-optical technique4. A coherent matter wave is emitted normal to the chip surface when the trapped atoms are released into free fall; alternatively, we couple the condensate into an ‘atomic conveyor belt’6, which is used to transport the condensed cloud non-destructively over a macroscopic distance parallel to the chip surface. The possibility of manipulating laser-like coherent matter waves with such an integrated atom-optical system holds promise for applications in interferometry, holography, microscopy, atom lithography and quantum information processing7.

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Figure 1: The chip and the magnetic potentials that it creates.
Figure 2: Vacuum system.
Figure 3: Time-of-flight absorption images of the atom cloud after 21 ms of free expansion.
Figure 4: Axial column density profile near the transition temperature, taken in configuration C2.
Figure 5: Transport of a BEC on the ‘magnetic conveyor belt’.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by the European Union under the IST programme (ACQUIRE project).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik and Sektion Physik der Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Schellingstr. 4, München, D-80799, Germany

    W. Hänsel, P. Hommelhoff, T. W. Hänsch & J. Reichel

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  1. W. Hänsel
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  2. P. Hommelhoff
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  3. T. W. Hänsch
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  4. J. Reichel
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Hänsel, W., Hommelhoff, P., Hänsch, T. et al. Bose–Einstein condensation on a microelectronic chip. Nature 413, 498–501 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/35097032

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