The Design, Fabrication and Characterization of a Transparent Atom Chip

Abstract

This study describes the design and fabrication of transparent atom chips for atomic physics experiments. A fabrication process was developed to define the wire patterns on a transparent glass substrate to create the desired magnetic field for atom trapping experiments. An area on the chip was reserved for the optical access, so that the laser light can penetrate directly through the glass substrate for the laser cooling process. Furthermore, since the thermal conductivity of the glass substrate is poorer than other common materials for atom chip substrate, for example silicon, silicon carbide, aluminum nitride. Thus, heat dissipation copper blocks are designed on the front and back of the glass substrate to improve the electrical current conduction. The testing results showed that a maximum burnout current of 2 A was measured from the wire pattern (with a width of 100 μm and a height of 20 μm) without any heat dissipation design and it can increase to 2.5 A with a heat dissipation design on the front side of the atom chips. Therefore, heat dissipation copper blocks were designed and fabricated on the back of the glass substrate just under the wire patterns which increases the maximum burnout current to 4.5 A. Moreover, a maximum burnout current of 6 A was achieved when the entire backside glass substrate was recessed and a thicker copper block was electroplated, which meets most requirements of atomic physics experiments.

Fifteen years of cold matter on the atom chip: promise, realizations, and prospects

“…Chip fabrication processes [ 1 , 199 ] are developing continuously and we have seen, for example, the fabrication of waveguides within the substrate (Figure 7 ), as well as high-Q devices, which are also of paramount importance (Section 3.3 ). Fabrication processes can now accommodate an optical window embedded within the substrate [ 200 , 201 ] as well as transparent substrates [ 202 , 203 ], allowing high-resolution imaging of the atomic ensemble. Let us also touch briefly upon the topic of the MOT, which is the first stage of cooling and collecting the atoms.…”

“…III C). Fabrication processes can now accommodate an optical window embedded within the substrate [200,201] as well as transparent substrates [202,203], allowing high-resolution imaging of the atomic ensemble. Let us also touch briefly upon the topic of the MOT, which is the first stage of cooling and collecting the atoms.…”

A microfluidic paper-based analytical device for rapid quantification of particulate chromium

“…Many instrumental techniques have been used to measure Cr, including UV-Visible spectrophotometry [10], ion chromatography [11], inductively couple plasma-mass spectrometry [12], atomic absorption spectroscopy [13], and X-ray techniques [14]. Although highly sensitive, these approaches are time-consuming (approximately two weeks for assessment), expensive (over $100 per sample), and require trained operators.…”