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Atoms on Chips

Grant Biedermann, Sandia National Laboratories

(Session : Thursday from )

Abstract. G. Biedermann, K. Fortier, M. Blain, D. Stick, T. Loyd, P. Schwindt, J. Hudgens Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM 87185 Much like laser cooling in the 1990's, atom chip technology today is rapidly gaining popularity as a convenient and powerful approach to achieving precise control over an atom's motion and internal state. While great success has been achieved in magnetically manipulating the atoms, integrating optical elements onto the atom chip is an active area of research. Premier applications for these "optoatomic circuits" can be foreseen in both quantum information science[1] and in quantum sensors[2]. At Sandia, our efforts (in collaboration with researchers at the University of New Mexico and Stanford University) are focused on integrating micro-optical cavities with atom chips for quantum sensing and information processing applications. Our atom chips contain patterned Al conductors forming magnetic traps and guides underneath an integrated mirror surface. Separately, small mode-volume, open access micro-optical cavities in a Si substrate have been developed. We are currently focusing on the monolithic integration of the magnetic trapping chips and the optical micro-cavities. New measurements of the finesse of the micro-cavities show improved performance. [1]. H. Mabuchi, M. Armen, B. Lev, M. Loncar, J. Vuckovic, H. J. Kimble, J. Preskill, M. Roukes, and A. Scherer, Quantum Information and Computation, 1, 7 (2001). [2]. Y.-J. Wang, D. Z. Anderson, V. M. Bright, E. A. Cornell, Qu. Diot, T. Kishimoto, M. Prentiss, R. A. Saravanan, S. R. Segal and S. Wu, Phys. Rev. Lett. 94, 090405 (2005). T. Schumm, S. Hofferberth, L. M. Andersson, S. Wildermuth, S. Groth, I. Bar-Joseph, J. Schmiedmayer, P. Kruger, Nature Physics, 1, 57 (2005).