Bose-Einstein condensation on a microelectronic chip.
Nature
; 413(6855): 498-501, 2001 Oct 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-11586353
ABSTRACT
Although Bose-Einstein condensates of ultracold atoms have been experimentally realizable for several years, their formation and manipulation still impose considerable technical challenges. An all-optical technique 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 chip. 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 technique. 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', 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 processing.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Nature
Ano de publicação:
2001
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Alemanha