We have fabricated and tested an atom chip that operates as a matter wave interferometer. In this communication we describe the fabrication of the chip by ion-beam milling of gold evaporated onto a silicon substrate. We present data on the quality of the wires, on the current density that can be reached in the wires and on the smoothness of the magnetic traps that are formed. We demonstrate the operation of the interferometer, showing that we can coherently split and recombine a BoseEinstein condensate with good phase stability.
Abstract-Ultracold atoms can be manipulated using microfabricated devices known as atom chips. These have significant potential for applications in sensing, metrology, and quantum information processing. To date, the chips are loaded by transfer of atoms from an external macroscopic magnetooptical trap (MOT) into microscopic traps on the chip. This transfer involves a series of steps, which complicate the experimental procedure and lead to atom losses. In this paper, we present a design for integrating a MOT into a silicon wafer by combining a concave pyramidal mirror with a square wire loop. We describe how an array of such traps has been fabricated, and we present magnetic, thermal, and optical properties of the chip.[
2008-0124]Index Terms-Atom chips, cavity patterning, electrophoretic resist, magnetooptical traps (MOTs).
Miniature concave hollows, made by wet etching silicon through a circular mask, can be used as mirror substrates for building optical micro-cavities on a chip. In this paper we investigate how ICP polishing improves both shape and roughness of the mirror substrates. We characterise the evolution of the surfaces during the ICP polishing using white-light optical profilometry and atomic force microscopy. A surface roughness of 1 nm is reached, which reduces to 0.5 nm after coating with a high reflectivity dielectric. With such smooth mirrors, the optical cavity finesse is now limited by the shape of the underlying mirror.
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oAmorphous silicon/titanium (a-Si/Ti) composite was deposited by co-sputtering techniques at room temperature with a view to explore its potential applications for monolithic integration of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and integrated circuits. The electrical resistivity of the films was successfully controlled over a range of magnitudes and the electrical transport mechanism was studied, based on percolation conduction theory of a three dimensional random network. The stability of the nanostructures and thus the percolation threshold was also observed at annealing temperatures below 300°C, while the percolation threshold decreased with annealing temperature above 300°C. Surface morphology and dry etching feasibility of the composite are also discussed for the potential applications of using it as the structural device layer for MEMS.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.