Ex Vacuo Atom Chip Bose-Einstein Condensate (BEC)

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the rapid replacement of external atom chips in an ex vacuo setup to produce Bose-Einstein condensates, simplifying maintenance and improving thermal management in cold atom experiments.

Contribution

It introduces a method for quick exchange of external atom chips in an ex vacuo system, enabling efficient BEC production with minimal downtime.

Findings

Successful creation of BEC using external atom chips

Rapid chip replacement within three hours

Maintained vacuum and optical conditions during exchange

Abstract

Ex vacuo atom chips, used in conjunction with a custom thin walled vacuum chamber, have enabled the rapid replacement of atom chips for magnetically trapped cold atom experiments. Atoms were trapped in $>2$ kHz magnetic traps created using high power atom chips. The thin walled vacuum chamber allowed the atoms to be trapped $\lesssim1$ mm from the atom chip conductors which were located outside of the vacuum system. Placing the atom chip outside of the vacuum simplified the electrical connections and improved thermal management. Using a multi-lead Z-wire chip design, a Bose-Einstein condensate was produced with an external atom chip. Vacuum and optical conditions were maintained while replacing the Z-wire chip with a newly designed cross-wire chip. The atom chips were exchanged and an initial magnetic trap was achieved in less than three hours.