title: Realization of a superconducting atom chip.
abstract: We have trapped rubidium atoms in the magnetic field produced by a superconducting atom chip operated at liquid helium temperatures. Up to 8.2x10(5) atoms are held in a Ioffe-Pritchard trap at a distance of 440 microm from the chip surface, with a temperature of 40 microK. The trap lifetime reaches 115 s at low atomic densities. These results open the way to the exploration of atom-surface interactions and coherent atomic transport in a superconducting environment, whose properties are radically different from normal metals at room temperature.
authors.affiliation: Département de Physique de l'Ecole Normale Supérieure, Laboratoire Kastler Brossel, 24 rue Lhomond, F-75231 Paris Cedex 05, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nirrengarten
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qarry
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Roux
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Emmert
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nogues
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brune
authors.forename: J-M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Raimond
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haroche