title: Trapping of neutral rubidium with a macroscopic three-phase electric trap.
abstract: We trap neutral ground-state rubidium atoms in a macroscopic trap based on purely electric fields. For this, three electrostatic field configurations are alternated in a periodic manner. The rubidium is precooled in a magneto-optical trap, transferred into a magnetic trap, and then translated into the electric trap. The electric trap consists of six rod-shaped electrodes in cubic arrangement, giving ample optical access. Up to 10;{5} atoms have been trapped with an initial temperature of around 20 microkelvin in the three-phase electric trap. The observations are in good agreement with detailed numerical simulations.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rieger
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Windpassinger
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Rangwala
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rempe
authors.forename: P W H
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Pinkse