Integrated magneto-optical traps on a chip using silicon pyramid structures

Abstract

We have integrated magneto-optical traps (MOTs) into an atom chip by etching pyramids into a silicon wafer. These have been used to trap atoms on the chip, directly from a room temperature vapor of rubidium. This new atom trapping method provides a simple way to integrate several atom sources on the same chip. It represents a substantial advance in atom chip technology and offers new possibilities for atom chip applications such as integrated single atom or photon sources and molecules on a chip.

Chip-scale atomic devices

“…Novel microfabricated structures, such as pyramidal [294][295][296][297][298] and grating-based reflectors, [299][300][301] have also been used to trap and cool atoms in simple, compact optical geometries. Atom chips 302 remain a compelling approach to manipulating laser-cooled atoms at the micro-scale and the compact systems 303 are beginning to be developed as clocks.…”

Magneto-optical trapping and background-free imaging for atoms near nanostructured surfaces

“…If the object of one's investigation is to observe the interaction between atoms and surfaces structured at the µm scale, for example hemispherical mirrors of the type investigated in [6], the signal from the atoms will almost certainly be lost due to unwanted scattering of light into the optical system. MOTs on the meso-and microscopic scale, in particular, have received some recent interest [7], but the small atom numbers in such traps have so far hindered their imaging and characterisation [8]. In this article we propose a modified configuration that we call the 'ΛMOT' and implement an imaging system based on a two-stage excitation process [9], which help us overcome each of these limitations and aid our exploration of different atom-surface interactions.…”

Utilising diffractive optics towards a compact, cold atom clock

“…The GMOT achieves equalised radiation pressure from balancing the intensities of a single incident beam by the diffracted orders from the grating surface [2], [3]. Previous optical tools for simplifying laser cooling and trapping have been demonstrated [13], [14], [15], [16], however, as discussed in previous work, the GMOT out-performs these devices on size, reproducibility, robustness and trapping capabilities [5]. These properties make the GMOT the ideal candidate for a compact atomic clock.…”