Designing Arbitrary One-dimensional Potentials on an Atom Chip
Mohammadamin Tajik, Bernhard Rauer, Thomas Schweigler, Federica Cataldini, João Sabino, Frederik S. Møller, Si-Cong Ji, Igor E. Mazets, Jörg Schmiedmayer
We use laser light shaped by a digital micro-mirror device to realize arbitrary optical dipole potentials for one-dimensional (1D) degenerate Bose gases of 87Rb trapped on an atom chip. Superposing optical and magnetic potentials combines the high flexibility of optical dipole traps with the advantages of magnetic trapping, such as effective evaporative cooling and the application of radio-frequency dressed state potentials. As applications, we present a 160 $μ$m long box-like potential with a central tuneable barrier, a box-like potential with a sinusoidally modulated bottom and a linear confining potential. These potentials provide new tools to investigate the dynamics of 1D quantum systems and will allow us to address exciting questions in quantum thermodynamics and quantum simulations.
An atom-chip-based integrated optical lattice system for cold and ultracold atom applications is presented. The retro-reflection optics necessary for forming the lattice are bonded directly to the atom chip, enabling a compact and robust on-chip optical lattice system. After achieving Bose-Einstein condensation in a magnetic chip trap, we load atoms directly into a vertically oriented 1D optical lattice and demonstrate Landau-Zener tunneling. The atom chip technology presented here can be readily extended to higher dimensional optical lattices.
We show that the performance and functionality of atom-chips can be transformed by using graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures to overcome present limitations on the lifetime of the trapped atom cloud and on its proximity to the chip surface. Our analysis involves Green-function calculations of the thermal (Johnson) noise and Casimir-Polder atom-surface attraction produced by the atom-chip. This enables us to determine the lifetime limitations produced by spin-flip, tunneling and three-body collisional losses. Compared with atom-chips that use thick metallic conductors and substrates, …
Compact and robust cold atom sources are increasingly important for quantum research, especially for transferring cutting-edge quantum science into practical applications. In this letter, we report on a novel scheme that utilizes a metasurface optical chip to replace the conventional bulky optical elements used to produce a cold atomic ensemble with a single incident laser beam, which is split by the metasurface into multiple beams of the desired polarization states. Atom numbers $~10^7$ and temperatures (about 35 $μ$K) of relevance to quantum sensing are achieved in a compact and robust fashi…
Hybrid quantum systems involving cold atoms and microwave resonators can enable cavity-mediated infinite-range interactions between atomic spin systems and realize atomic quantum memories and transducers for microwave to optical conversion. To achieve strong coupling of atoms to on-chip microwave resonators, it was suggested to use atomic Rydberg states with strong electric dipole transitions. Here we report on the realization of coherent coupling of a Rydberg transition of ultracold atoms trapped on an integrated superconducting atom chip to the microwave field of an on-chip coplanar waveguid…
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.
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…
We realize on an Atom-Chip a practical, experimentally undemanding, tomographic reconstruction algorithm relying on the time-resolved measurements of the atomic population distribution among atomic internal states. More specifically, we estimate both the state density matrix as well as the dephasing noise present in our system by assuming complete knowledge of the Hamiltonian evolution. The proposed scheme is based on routinely performed measurements and established experimental procedures, hence providing a simplified methodology for quantum technological applications.
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 with minimized distortions based on a mesoscopic wire structure which provides a loading rate of 8.4 10^10 atoms/s and a maximum number of 8.7 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 faci…
We describe a robust and reliable fluorescence detector for single atoms that is fully integrated into an atom chip. The detector allows spectrally and spatially selective detection of atoms, reaching a single atom detection efficiency of 66%. It consists of a tapered lensed single-mode fiber for precise delivery of excitation light and a multi-mode fiber to collect the fluorescence. The fibers are mounted in lithographically defined holding structures on the atom chip. Neutral 87Rb atoms propagating freely in a magnetic guide are detected and the noise of their fluorescence emission is analyz…
Adiabatic techniques are well known tools in multi-level electron systems to transfer population between different states with high fidelity. Recently it has been realised that these ideas can also be used in ultra-cold atom systems to achieve coherent manipulation of the atomic centre-of-mass states. Here we present an investigation into a realistic setup using three atomic waveguides created on top of an atom chip and show that such systems hold large potential for the observation of adiabatic phenomena in experiments.
Atom chips provide compact and robust platforms towards practical quantum technologies. A quick and faithful preparation of arbitrary input states for these systems is crucial but represents a very challenging experimental task. This is especially difficult when the dynamical evolution is noisy and unavoidable setup imperfections have to be considered. Here, we experimentally prepare with very high small errors different internal states of a Rubidium Bose-Einstein condensate realized on an atom chip. As a possible application of our scheme, we apply it to improve the sensitivity of an atomic i…
Cold-atom interferometry is a powerful tool for high-precision measurements of the quantum properties of atoms, many-body interactions and gravity. Further enhancement of sensitivity and reduction of complexity of these devices are crucial conditions for success of their applications. Here we introduce a multi-path interferometric scheme that offers advances in both these aspects. It uses coherent coupling between Bose-Einstein condensates in different Zeeman states to generate an interferometric signal with sharp fringes. We realise such an interferometer as a compact easy-to-use atom-chip de…
We have studied the thermal properties of atom chips consisting o high thermal conductivity Aluminum Nitride (AlN) substrates on which gold microwires are directly deposited. We have measured the heating of wires of several widths and with different thermal couplings to the copper mount holding the chip. The results are in good agreement with a theoretical model where the copper mount is treated as a heat sink and the thermal interface resistance between the wire and the substrate is vanishing. We give analytical formulas describing the different transient heating regimes and the steady state.…
We show that current in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) can trap ultracold atoms $<1 μ$m away with orders of magnitude less spatial noise than a metal trapping wire. This enables the creation of hybrid systems, which integrate ultracold atoms with quantum electronic devices to give extreme sensitivity and control: for example, activating a single quantized conductance channel in the 2DEG can split a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) for atom interferometry. In turn, the BEC offers unique structural and functional imaging of quantum devices and transport in heterostructures and graphene.
Adiabatic techniques offer some of the most promising tools to achieve high-fidelity control of the centre-of-mass degree of freedom of single atoms. As their main requirement is to follow an eigenstate of the system, constraints on timing and field strength stability are usually low, especially for trapped systems. In this paper we present a detailed example of a technique to adiabatically transport a single atom between different waveguides on an atom chip. To ensure that all conditions are fulfilled, we carry out fully three dimensional simulations of the system, using experimentally realis…
Laser cooled atoms are central to modern precision measurements. They are also increasingly important as an enabling technology for experimental cavity quantum electrodynamics, quantum information processing and matter wave interferometry. Although significant progress has been made in miniaturising atomic metrological devices, these are limited in accuracy by their use of hot atomic ensembles and buffer gases. Advances have also been made in producing portable apparatus that benefit from the advantages of atoms in the microKelvin regime. However, simplifying atomic cooling and loading using m…
We have constructed an asymmetric matter-wave beam splitter and a ring potential on an atom chip with Bose-Einstein condensates using radio-frequency dressing. By applying rf-field parallel to the quantization axis in the vicinity of the static trap minima added to perpendicular rf-fields, versatile controllability on the potentials is realized. Asymmetry of the rf-induced double well is manipulated without discernible displacement of the each well along horizontal and vertical direction. Formation of an isotropic ring potential on an atom chip is achieved by compensating the gradient due to g…
The coherence of quantum systems is crucial to quantum information processing. While it has been demonstrated that superconducting qubits can process quantum information at microelectronics rates, it remains a challenge to preserve the coherence and therefore the quantum character of the information in these systems. An alternative is to share the tasks between different quantum platforms, e.g. cold atoms storing the quantum information processed by superconducting circuits. In our experiment, we characterize the coherence of superposition states of 87Rb atoms magnetically trapped on a superco…
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…
The emergence of a special type of fluid-like behavior at large scales in one-dimensional (1d) quantum integrable systems, theoretically predicted in 2016, is established experimentally, by monitoring the time evolution of the in situ density profile of a single 1d cloud of $^{87}{\rm Rb}$ atoms trapped on an atom chip after a quench of the longitudinal trapping potential. The theory can be viewed as a dynamical extension of the thermodynamics of Yang and Yang, and applies to the whole range of repulsion strength and temperature of the gas. The measurements, performed on weakly interacting ato…
