Atom chips with two-dimensional electron gases: theory of near surface trapping and ultracold-atom microscopy of quantum electronic systems

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to trap ultracold atoms near a 2D electron gas using current-induced magnetic fields, enabling hybrid quantum systems with high sensitivity and novel imaging capabilities.

Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework for atom trapping near 2DEGs and demonstrates potential for advanced quantum device integration and imaging.

Findings

Ultracold atoms can be trapped within 1 micron of a 2DEG with low noise.

Single conductance channel activation can split a Bose-Einstein condensate.

The approach enables high-sensitivity imaging of quantum electronic systems.

Abstract

We show that current in a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) can trap ultracold atoms $<1 \mu$m away with orders of magnitude less spatial noise than a metal trapping wire. This enables the creation of hybrid systems, which integrate ultracold atoms with quantum electronic devices to give extreme sensitivity and control: for example, activating a single quantized conductance channel in the 2DEG can split a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) for atom interferometry. In turn, the BEC offers unique structural and functional imaging of quantum devices and transport in heterostructures and graphene.