Guiding neutral atoms on a chip

ABSTRACT

We demonstrate the guiding of neutral atoms by the magnetic fields due to microfabricated current-carrying wires on a chip. Atoms are guided along a magnetic field minimum parallel to and above the current-carrying wires. Two guide configurations are demonstrated one using two wires with an external magnetic field, and a second using four wires without an external field. These guide geometries can be extended to integrated atom optics circuits, including beam splitters.