Image:MicroChipAtomicTrap00.jpg

The first microchip atomic trap, designed at the Institute for Laser Science, Japan. The main wire has Z-shape; the magnetic field allows the trapping of neutral atoms due to their magnetic momentum. The ship has sizes 2 x 2 cm. It was placed to the uniform magnetic field (source of this field is not shown in the figure); the traping is realized for so-called "atoms seeking for low magnetic field". The only atoms with positive spin-field energy were trapped. The miminim of the field is realized at the side of the chip, close to the central part of the z-electrode with electric current. This movement is limited by the edges of the "Z". Additional electrodes were designed to allow the play with the effective potential along this wire; the interaction with laser beams and play with potential (coling with vaporation) allow the additional cooling of atoms, reaching the BEC. In the current design, the only one additional electrode is supplied with contacts. It was planned to use other electrodes to play with the potential in experiments with single-dimentional quantum mechanics. Actually, more advanced microchip atomic traps were manufactured instead.

private communication

y.2003

Ken-Ichi Nakagawa

copuleft directly from author

Up to my knowkedge, it is the best resolution image of the First Microship Atomic Trap, ever posted. lower resolution pics are available at

• Atom Optics, Coherence and Ultra Cold Atoms" at the Institute for Laser Science homepage http://www.ils.uec.ac.jp/Eatomoptics.html
• publication: M.Horikoshi; K.Nakagawa (2006). "Atom chip based fast production of Bose-Einstein condensat". Applied Physics B 83: 363-366. (not available online)