Optical lattice on an atom chip.
Optical dipole traps and atom chips are two very powerful tools for the quantum manipulation of neutral atoms. We demonstrate that both methods can be combined by creating an optical lattice potential on an atom chip. A red-detuned laser beam is retroreflected using the atom chip surface as a high-quality mirror, generating a vertical array of purely optical oblate traps. We transfer thermal atoms from the chip into the lattice and observe cooling into the two-dimensional regime. Using a chip-generated Bose-Einstein condensate, we demonstrate coherent Bloch oscillations in the lattice.
Gallego
D
D
Physikalisches Institut, Universität Heidelberg, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Hofferberth
S
S
Schumm
T
T
Krüger
P
P
Schmiedmayer
J
J