Superconducting atom chips have very significant advantages in realizing trapping structures for ultracold atoms compared to conventional atom chips. We extend these advantages further by developing the ability to dynamically tailor the superconducting trap architecture. Heating the chosen parts of a superconducting film by transferring optical images onto its surface we are able to modify the current density distribution and create desired trapping potentials. This method enables us to change the shape and structure of magnetic traps, enabling versatile applications in atomtronics.
Trapping ultracold molecules in conservative traps is essential for applications -- such as quantum state-controlled chemistry, quantum simulations, and quantum information processing. These applications require high densities or phase-space densities. We report magnetic trapping of NaLi molecules in the triplet ground state at high density ($\approx 10^{11} \; \rm{cm}^{-3}$) and ultralow temperature ($\approx 1\;{\rm μK}$). Magnetic trapping at these densities allows studies on both atom-molecule and molecule-molecule collisions in the ultracold regime in the absence of trapping light, which …
Selection of "magic" trapping conditions with ultracold atoms or molecules, where pairs of internal states experience identical trapping potentials, brings substantial benefits to precision measurements and quantum computing schemes. Working at such conditions could ensure that detrimental effects of inevitable inhomogeneities across an ultracold sample are significantly reduced. However, this aspect of confinement remains unexplored for ultracold polar molecules. Here, we present means to control the AC Stark shift of rotational states of ultracold polar molecules, when subjected to both trap…
High-density and ultracold atomic gases have emerged as promising media for storage of individual photons for quantum memory applications. In this paper we provide an overview of our theoretical and experimental efforts in this direction, with particular attention paid to manipulation of light storage (a) through complex recurrent optical scattering processes in very high density gases (b) by an external control field in a characteristic electromagnetically induced transparency configuration.
Hybrid quantum systems that unite laser-cooled trapped ions and ultracold quantum gases in a single experimental setup have opened a rapidly advancing field of study, including Quantum chemistry, polaron physics, quantum information processing and quantum simulations. We present a fully developed and tested ion trap chip and propose a flat chip trap that can be placed beneath the ion trap. This design substantially addresses the difficulties specific to hybrid traps and features well-aligned chips that allow for independent adjustment of the depth of the atomic trap and the confinement and pos…
Ultracold dysprosium gases, with a magnetic moment ten times that of alkali atoms and equal only to terbium as the most magnetic atom, are expected to exhibit a multitude of fascinating collisional dynamics and quantum dipolar phases, including quantum liquid crystal physics. We report the first laser cooling and trapping of half a billion Dy atoms using a repumper-free magneto-optical trap (MOT) and continuously loaded magnetic confinement, and we characterize the trap recycling dynamics for bosonic and fermionic isotopes. The first inelastic collision measurements in the few partial wave, 10…
We describe the realization of a dc electric-field trap for ultracold polar molecules, the thin-wire electrostatic trap (TWIST). The thin wires that form the electrodes of the TWIST allow us to superimpose the trap onto a magneto-optical trap (MOT). In our experiment, ultracold polar NaCs molecules in their electronic ground state are created in the MOT via photoassociation, achieving a continuous accumulation in the TWIST of molecules in low-field seeking states. Initial measurements show that the TWIST trap lifetime is limited only by the background pressure in the chamber.
We demonstrate a novel atom chip trapping system that allows the placement and high-resolution imaging of ultracold atoms within microns from any <100 um-thin, UHV-compatible material, while also allowing sample exchange with minimal experimental downtime. The sample is not connected to the atom chip, allowing rapid exchange without perturbing the atom chip or laser cooling apparatus. Exchange of the sample and retrapping of atoms has been performed within a week turnaround, limited only by chamber baking. Moreover, the decoupling of sample and atom chip provides the ability to independently t…
High precision spectroscopy on the $2 \ ^3 S \rightarrow 2 \ ^1 S$ transition is possible in ultracold optically trapped helium but the accuracy is limited by the ac-Stark shift induced by the optical dipole trap. To overcome this problem, we have built a trapping laser system at the predicted magic wavelength of 319.8 nm. Our system is based on frequency conversion using commercially available components and produces over 2 W of power at this wavelength. With this system, we show trapping of ultracold atoms, both thermal ($\sim0.2 \ \mathrm{μK}$) and in a Bose-Einstein condensate, with a trap…
We have formulated and experimentally demonstrated an improved algorithm for design of arbitrary two-dimensional holographic traps for ultracold atoms. Our method builds on the best previously available algorithm, MRAF, and improves on it in two ways. First, it allows for creation of holographic atom traps with a well defined background potential. Second, we experimentally show that for creating trapping potentials free of fringing artifacts it is important to go beyond the Fourier approximation in modelling light propagation. To this end, we incorporate full Helmholtz propagation into our cal…
This review describes the production of atomic strontium samples at ultra-low temperature and at high phase-space density, and their possible use for physical studies and applications. We describe the process of loading a magneto-optical trap from an atomic beam and preparing the sample for high precision measurements. Particular emphasis is given to the applications of ultracold Sr samples, spanning from optical frequency metrology to force sensing at micrometer scale.
We demonstrate the possibility of trapping about one hundred million rubidium atoms in a magneto-optical trap with several of the beams passing through a transparent atom chip mounted on a vacuum cell wall. The chip is made of a gold microcircuit deposited on a silicon carbide substrate, with favorable thermal conductivity. We show how a retro-reflected configuration can efficiently address the chip birefringence issues, allowing atom trapping at arbitrary distances from the chip. We also demonstrate detection through the chip, granting a large numerical aperture. This configuration is compare…
In experiments with trapped atoms, atomic energy levels are shifted by the trapping optical and magnetic fields. Regardless of this strong perturbation, precision spectroscopy may be still carried out using specially crafted, "magic" trapping fields. Finding these conditions for particularly valuable microwave clock transitions in alkalis has so far remained an open challenge. Here I demonstrate that the microwave clock transitions for alkalis may be indeed made impervious to both trapping laser intensity and fluctuations of magnetic fields. I consider driving multiphoton transitions between t…
Ultracold atoms confined in a dipole trap are submitted to a potential whose depth is proportional to the real part of their dynamic dipole polarizability. The atoms also experience photon scattering whose rate is proportional to the imaginary part of their dynamic dipole polarizability. In this article we calculate the complex dynamic dipole polarizability of ground-state erbium, a rare-earth atom that was recently Bose-condensed. The polarizability is calculated with the sum-over-state formula inherent to second-order perturbation theory. The summation is performed on transition energies and…
We have successfully implemented the first simultaneous magneto-optical trapping (MOT) of lithium ($^6$Li) and ytterbium ($^{174}$Yb) atoms, towards production of ultracold polar molecules of LiYb. For this purpose, we developed the dual atomic oven which contains both atomic species as an atom source and successfully observed the spectra of the Li and Yb atoms in the atomic beams from the dual atomic oven. We constructed the vacuum chamber including the glass cell with the windows made of zinc selenium (ZnSe) for the CO$_2$ lasers, which are the useful light sources of optical trapping for ev…
We have produced ultracold heteronuclear KRb molecules by the process of photoassociation in a two-species magneto-optical trap. Following decay of the photoassociated KRb*, the molecules are detected using two-photon ionization and time-of-flight mass spectroscopy of KRb$^+$. A portion of the metastable triplet molecules thus formed are magnetically trapped. Photoassociative spectra down to 91 cm$^{-1}$ below the K(4$s$) + Rb (5$p_{1/2}$) asymptote have been obtained. We have made assignments to all eight of the attractive Hund's case (c) KRb* potential curves in this spectral region.
We have measured the trapping lifetime of magnetically trapped atoms in a cryogenic atom-chip experiment. An ultracold atomic cloud is kept at a fixed distance from a thin gold layer deposited on top of a superconducting trapping wire. The lifetime is studied as a function of the distances to the surface and to the wire. Different regimes are observed, where loss rate is determined either by the technical current noise in the wire or the Johnson-Nyquist noise in the metallic gold layer, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. Far from the surface, we observe exceptionally long trapping…
Imaging ultracold atomic gases close to surfaces is an important tool for the detailed analysis of experiments carried out using atom chips. We describe the critical factors that need be considered, especially when the imaging beam is purposely reflected from the surface. In particular we present methods to measure the atom-surface distance, which is a prerequisite for magnetic field imaging and studies of atom surface-interactions.
The formation of $^{40}$Ca$_2^+$ molecular ions is observed in a hybrid $^{40}$Ca magneto-optical and ion trap system. The molecular ion formation process is determined to be two-photon photo-associative ionization of ultracold $^{40}$Ca atoms. A lower bound for the two-body, two-photon rate constant is found to be $\barβ \geq 2 \pm 1 \times 10^{-15}$ cm$^{3}$ Hz. $\textit{Ab initio}$ molecular potential curves are calculated for the neutral Ca$_2$ and ionic Ca$_2^+$ molecules and used in a model that identifies the photo-associative ionization pathway. As this technique does not require a sep…
We report on the loading and trapping of ultracold atoms in a one dimensional permanent magnetic lattice of period 10 micron produced on an atom chip. The grooved structure which generates the magnetic lattice potential is fabricated on a silicon substrate and coated with a perpendicularly magnetized multilayered TbGdFeCo/Cr film of effective thickness 960 nm. Ultracold atoms are evaporatively cooled in a Z-wire magnetic trap and then adiabatically transferred to the magnetic lattice potential by applying an appropriate bias field. Under our experimental conditions trap frequencies of up to 90…
We theoretically investigate the quantum properties of nS, nP, and nD Rydberg atoms in a magnetic Ioffe-Pritchard trap. In particular, it is demonstrated that the two-body character of Rydberg atoms significantly alters the trapping properties opposed to point-like particles with identical magnetic moment. Approximate analytical expressions describing the resulting Rydberg trapping potentials are derived and their validity is confirmed for experimentally relevant field strengths by comparisons to numerical solutions of the underlying Schroedinger equation. In addition to the electronic propert…
Analytic expressions describe universal elastic and reactive rates of quasi-two-dimensional and quasi-one-dimensional collisions of highly reactive ultracold molecules interacting by a van der Waals potential. Exact and approximate calculations for the example species of KRb show that stability and evaporative cooling can be realized for spin-polarized fermions at moderate dipole and trapping strength, whereas bosons or unlike fermions require significantly higher dipole or trapping strengths.
Three dimensional electrodynamic trapping of neutral atoms has been demonstrated. By applying time-varying inhomogeneous electric fields with micron-sized electrodes, nearly $10^2$ strontium atoms in the $^1S_0$ state have been trapped with a lifetime of 80 ms. In order to design the electrodes, we numerically analyzed the electric field and simulated atomic trajectories in the trap, which showed reasonable agreement with the experiment.
Ultracold atom-traps on a chip enhances the practical application of atom traps in quantum information processing, sensing, and metrology. Plasmon mediated near-field optical potentials are promising for trapping atoms. The combination of plasmonic nanostructures and ultracold atoms has the potential to create a two dimensional array of neutral atoms with lattice spacing smaller than that of lattices created from interfering light fields -- the optical lattices. We report the design, fabrication and characterization of a nano-scale array of near-field optical traps for neutral atoms using plas…
We determine trapping conditions for ultracold polar molecules, where pairs of internal states experience identical trapping potentials. Such conditions could ensure that detrimental effects of inevitable inhomogeneities across an ultracold sample are significantly reduced. In particular, we investigate the internal rovibronic and hyperfine quantum states of ultracold fermionic ground-state $^{40}$K$^{87}$Rb polar molecules, when static magnetic, static electric, and trapping laser fields are simultaneously applied. Understanding the effect of changing the relative orientation or polarization …
In the last years, it was demonstrated that neutral molecules can be loaded on a microchip directly from a supersonic beam. The molecules are confined in microscopic traps that can be moved smoothly over the surface of the chip. Once the molecules are trapped, they can be decelerated to a standstill, for instance, or pumped into selected quantum states by laser light or microwaves. Molecules are detected on the chip by time-resolved spatial imaging, which allows for the study of the distribution in the phase space of the molecular ensemble.
We report the trapping of ultracold 87Rb atoms in a 0.7 micron-period 2D triangular magnetic lattice on an atom chip. The magnetic lattice is created by a lithographically patterned magnetic Co/Pd multilayer film plus bias fields. Rubidium atoms in the F=1, mF=-1 low-field seeking state are trapped at estimated distances down to about 100 nm from the chip surface and with calculated mean trapping frequencies as high as 800 kHz. The measured lifetimes of the atoms trapped in the magnetic lattice are in the range 0.4 - 1.7 ms, depending on distance from the chip surface. Model calculations sugge…
Laser cooling and trapping are central to modern atomic physics. The workhorse technique in cold-atom physics is the magneto-optical trap (MOT), which combines laser cooling with a restoring force from radiation pressure. For a variety of atomic species, MOTs can capture and cool large numbers of particles to ultracold temperatures (<1 mK); this has enabled the study of a wide range of phenomena from optical clocks to ultracold collisions whilst also serving as the ubiquitous starting point for further cooling into the regime of quantum degeneracy. Magneto-optical trapping of molecules could p…
The efficiency of optical trapping of ultracold atoms depend on the atomic dynamic dipole polarizability governing the atom-field interaction. In this article, we have calculated the real and imaginary parts of the dynamic dipole polarizability of dysprosium in the ground and first excited level. Due to the high electronic angular momentum of those two states, the polarizabilities possess scalar, vector and tensor contributions that we have computed, on a wide range of trapping wavelengths, using the sum-over-state formula. Using the same formalism, we have also calculated the $C_6$ coefficien…
We show that the stray field generated by isolated magnetic skyrmions can be used to trap ultracold atoms. Specially, ring-shaped and double-well trapping potentials for ultracold atoms can be created by combining the field from two isolated skyrmions. The geometry size, potential barrier, trapping frequency and Majorana loss rate of these magnetic traps can be tuned by the external magnetic field or device configuration. The results here could be useful to develop atomtronics devices by manipulating the magnetic skyrmions with modern spintronics techniques.
We describe the fabrication and construction of a setup for creating lattices of magnetic microtraps for ultracold atoms on an atom chip. The lattice is defined by lithographic patterning of a permanent magnetic film. Patterned magnetic-film atom chips enable a large variety of trapping geometries over a wide range of length scales. We demonstrate an atom chip with a lattice constant of 10 $μ$m, suitable for experiments in quantum information science employing the interaction between atoms in highly-excited Rydberg energy levels. The active trapping region contains lattice regions with square …
A microstructured array of over 1200 electrodes on a substrate has been configured to generate an array of local minima of electric field strength with a periodicity of $120 μ$m about $25 μ$m above the substrate. By applying sinusoidally varying potentials to the electrodes, these minima can be made to move smoothly along the array. Polar molecules in low field seeking quantum states can be trapped in these traveling potential wells. This is experimentally demonstrated by transporting metastable CO molecules in 30 mK deep wells that move at constant velocities above the substrate.
We report on the design, fabrication and characterization of magnetic nanostructures to create a lattice of magnetic traps with sub--micron period for trapping ultracold atoms. These magnetic nanostructures were fabricated by patterning a Co/Pd multilayered magnetic film grown on a silicon substrate using high precision e-beam lithography and reactive ion etching. The Co/Pd film was chosen for its small grain size and high remanent magnetization and coercivity. The fabricated structures are designed to magnetically trap $^{87}$Rb atoms above the surface of the magnetic film with 1D and 2D (tri…
We report on the trapping of ultracold atoms in the magnetic field formed entirely by persistent supercurrents induced in a thin film type-II superconducting square. The supercurrents are carried by vortices induced in the 2D structure by applying two magnetic field pulses of varying amplitude perpendicular to its surface. This results in a self-sufficient quadrupole trap that does not require any externally applied fields. We investigate the trapping parameters for different supercurrent distributions. Furthermore, to demonstrate possible applications of these types of supercurrent traps we s…
Trapping of single ultracold atoms is an important tool for applications ranging from quantum computation and communication to sensing. However, most experimental setups, while very precise and versatile, can only be operated in specialized laboratory environments due to their large size, complexity and high cost. Here, we introduce a new trapping concept for ultracold atoms in optical tweezers based on micrometer-scale lenses that are 3D printed onto the tip of standard optical fibers. The unique properties of these lenses make them suitable for both trapping individual atoms and capturing th…
In this work we consider the advantages and challenges of using free-standing two-dimensional electron gases (2DEG) as active components in atom chips for manipulating ultracold ensembles of alkali atoms. We calculate trapping parameters achievable with typical high-mobility 2DEGs in an atom chip configuration, and identify advantages of this system for trapping atoms at sub-micron distances from the atom chip. We show how the sensitivity of atomic gases to magnetic field inhomogeneity can be exploited for controlling the atoms with quantum electronic devices and, conversely, using the atoms t…
Cold Rydberg atoms exposed to strong magnetic fields possess unique properties which open the pathway for an intriguing many-body dynamics taking place in Rydberg gases consisting of either matter or anti-matter systems. We review both the foundations and recent developments of the field in the cold and ultracold regime where trapping and cooling of Rydberg atoms have become possible. Exotic states of moving Rydberg atoms such as giant dipole states are discussed in detail, including their formation mechanisms in a strongly magnetized cold plasma. Inhomogeneous field configurations influence t…
We report the realization of a robust magnetic transport scheme to bring 3x10^8 ultracold 87Rb atoms into a cryostat. The sequence starts with standard laser cooling and trapping of 87Rb atoms, transporting first horizontally and then vertically through the radiation shields into a cryostat by a series of normal- and superconducting magnetic coils. Loading the atoms in a superconducting microtrap paves the way for studying the interaction of ultracold atoms with superconducting surfaces and quantum devices requiring cryogenic temperatures.
We report on the magnetic trapping of an ultracold ensemble of $^{87}$Rb atoms close to a superconducting ring prepared in different states of quantized magnetic flux. The niobium ring of 10 $μ$m radius is prepared in a flux state $n Φ_0$, with $Φ_0 = h / 2e$ the flux quantum and $n$ varies between $\pm 5$. An atomic cloud of 250 nK temperature is positioned with a harmonic magnetic trapping potential at $\sim 18 μ$m distance below the ring. The inhomogeneous magnetic field of the supercurrent in the ring contributes to the magnetic trapping potential of the cloud. The induced deformation of t…
We investigate the effect of far-off-resonant trapping light on ultracold bosonic RbCs molecules. We use kHz-precision microwave spectroscopy to measure the differential AC Stark shifts between the ground and first excited rotational levels of the molecule with hyperfine-state resolution. We demonstrate through both experiment and theory that coupling between neighboring hyperfine states manifests in rich structure with many avoided crossings. This coupling may be tuned by rotating the polarization of the linearly polarized trapping light. A combination of spectroscopic and parametric heating …
We report the trapping of ultracold neutral $ \text{Rb}$ atoms and $ \text{Ba}^+ $ ions in a common optical potential in absence of any radiofrequency (RF) fields. We prepare $ \text{Ba}^+ $ at $ 370 ~ μK $ and demonstrate efficient sympathetic cooling by $100 ~ μK $ after one collision. Our approach is currently limited by the $ \text{Rb}$ density and related three-body losses, but it overcomes the fundamental limitation in RF traps set by RF-driven, micromotion-induced heating. It is applicable to a wide range of ion-atom species, and may enable novel ultracold chemistry experiments and comp…
We present the implementation of tailored trapping potentials for ultracold gases on an atom chip. We realize highly elongated traps with box-like confinement along the long, axial direction combined with conventional harmonic confinement along the two radial directions. The design, fabrication and characterization of the atom chip and the box traps is described. We load ultracold ($\lesssim1 μ$K) clouds of $^{87}$Rb in a box trap, and demonstrate Bose-gas focusing as a means to characterize these atomic clouds in arbitrarily shaped potentials. Our results show that box-like axial potentials o…
Beams of helium atoms in Rydberg-Stark states with principal quantum number $n=48$ and electric dipole moments of 4600~D have been decelerated from a mean initial longitudinal speed of 2000~m/s to zero velocity in the laboratory-fixed frame-of-reference in the continuously moving electric traps of a transmission-line decelerator. In this process accelerations up to $-1.3\times10^{7}$~m/s$^2$ were applied, and changes in kinetic energy of $ΔE_{\mathrm{kin}}=1.3\times10^{-20}$~J ($ΔE_{\mathrm{kin}}/e = 83$~meV) per atom were achieved. Guided and decelerated atoms, and those confined in stationar…
The efficiency of optical trapping is determined by the atomic dynamic dipole polarizability, whose real and imaginary parts are associated with the potential energy and photon-scattering rate respectively. In this article we develop a formalism to calculate analytically the real and imaginary parts of the scalar, vector and tensor polarizabilities of lanthanide atoms. We assume that the sum-over-state formula only comprises transitions involving electrons in the valence orbitals like $6s$, $5d$, $6p$ or $7s$, while transitions involving $4f$ core electrons are neglected. Applying this formali…
Continuous wave (CW) lasers are the enabling technology for producing ultracold atoms and molecules through laser cooling and trapping. The resulting pristine samples of slow moving particles are the de facto starting point for both fundamental and applied science when a highly-controlled quantum system is required. Laser cooled atoms have recently led to major advances in quantum information, the search to understand dark energy, quantum chemistry, and quantum sensors. However, CW laser technology currently limits laser cooling and trapping to special types of elements that do not include hig…
Ultracold atoms at temperatures close to the recoil limit have been achieved by extending Doppler cooling to forbidden transitions. A cloud of ^40Ca atoms has been cooled and trapped to a temperature as low as 6 μK by operating a magneto-optical trap on the spin-forbidden intercombination transition. Quenching the long-lived excited state with an additional laser enhanced the scattering rate by a factor of 15, while a high selectivity in velocity was preserved. With this method more than 10% of pre-cooled atoms from a standard magneto-optical trap have been transferred to the ultracold trap. M…
We report 2D confinement of Rb 87 atoms in a Laguerre-Gaussian laser beam. Changing of the sign of the detuning from the atomic resonance dramatically alters the geometry of the confinement. With the laser detuned to the blue, the atoms are confined to the dark, central node of the Laguerre-Gaussian laser mode. This trapping method leads to low ac Stark shifts to the atomic levels. Alternatively, by detuning the laser to the red of the resonance, we confine atoms to the high intensity outer ring in a multiply-connected, toroidal configuration. We model the confined atoms to determine azimuthal…
We propose a versatile optical ring lattice suitable for trapping cold and quantum degenerate atomic samples at discrete angular positions. We demonstrate the realisation of intensity patterns generated from Laguerre-Gauss ($\exp(i \ellθ)$) modes with different $\ell$ indices. The ring lattice can have either intensity maxima or minima, suitable for trapping in red or blue detuned light, and it can be rotated by introducing a frequency shift between the Laguerre Gauss modes. The potential wells can be joined to form a uniform ring trap, making it ideal for studying persistent currents and the …
Chemical reactions can be surprisingly efficient at ultracold temperatures ( < 1mK) due to the wave nature of atoms and molecules. The study of reactions in the ultracold regime is a new research frontier enabled by cooling and trapping techniques developed in atomic and molecular physics. In addition, ultracold molecular gases that offer diverse molecular internal states and large electric dipolar interactions are sought after for studies of strongly interacting many-body quantum physics. Here we propose a new approach for producing ultracold molecules in the absolute internal and motional qu…
This article reviews the development in our laboratory of magnetic lattices comprising periodic arrays of magnetic microtraps created by patterned magnetic films to trap periodic arrays of ultracold atoms. Recent achievements include the realisation of multiple Bose-Einstein condensates in a 10 micron-period one-dimensional magnetic lattice; the fabrication of sub-micron-period square and triangular magnetic lattice structures suitable for quantum tunnelling experiments; the trapping of ultracold atoms in a sub-micron-period triangular magnetic lattice; and a proposal to use long-range interac…
The development of the magneto-optical trap revolutionized the fields of atomic and quantum physics by providing a simple method for the rapid production of ultracold, trapped atoms. A similar technique for producing a diverse set of dense, ultracold diatomic molecular species will likewise transform the study of strongly interacting quantum systems, precision measurement, and physical chemistry. We demonstrate one- and two-dimensional transverse laser cooling and magneto-optical trapping of the polar molecule yttrium (II) oxide (YO). Using a quasicycling optical transition we observe transver…
We report the sympathetic cooling and Coulomb crystallization of molecular ions above the surface of an ion-trap chip. N$_2^+$ and CaH$^+$ ions were confined in a surface-electrode radiofrequency ion trap and cooled by the interaction with laser-cooled Ca$^{+}$ ions to secular translational temperatures in the millikelvin range. The configuration of trapping potentials generated by the surface electrodes enabled the formation of planar bicomponent Coulomb crystals and the spatial separation of the molecular from the atomic ions on the chip. The structural and thermal properties of the Coulomb …
A versatile apparatus for simultaneous trapping of multiple species of ultracold atoms and ions to enable studies of low energy collisions and cold chemistry
Surface based geometries of microfabricated wires or patterned magnetic films can be used to magnetically trap and manipulate ultracold neutral atoms or Bose-Einstein condensates. We investigate the magnetic properties of such atom chips using a scanning magnetoresistive (MR) microscope with high spatial resolution and high field sensitivity. We show that MR sensors are ideally suited to observe small variations of the magnetic field caused by imperfections in the wires or magnetic materials which ultimately lead to fragmentation of ultracold atom clouds. Measurements are also provided for the…
Metastable (1s)(2s) $^3{\rm S}_1$ helium atoms produced in a supersonic beam were excited to Rydberg-Stark states (with $n$ in the $27-30$ range) in a cryogenic environment and subsequently decelerated by, and trapped above, a surface-electrode decelerator. In the trapping experiments, the Rydberg atoms were brought to rest in 75~$μ$s and over a distance of 33~mm and kept stationary for times $t_{\mathrm{trap}}$ in the $0-525$~$μ$s range, before being re-accelerated for detection by pulsed field ionization. The use of a home-built valve producing short gas pulses with a duration of about 20~$μ…
