Designing potentials by sculpturing wires

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how sculpturing wires on atom chips via nano-machining can precisely control magnetic trapping potentials for atoms, reducing potential roughness and enabling complex trap designs.

Contribution

It introduces a method to tailor current flow in atom chip wires through nano-machining, allowing for customized magnetic potentials and improved trap quality.

Findings

Polished conductor edges reduce potential roughness.

Nano-machining enables custom trap geometries.

Potential for creating 1D magnetic lattices.

Abstract

Magnetic trapping potentials for atoms on atom chips are determined by the current flow in the chip wires. By modifying the shape of the conductor we can realize specialized current flow patterns and therefore micro-design the trapping potentials. We have demonstrated this by nano-machining an atom chip using the focused ion beam technique. We built a trap, a barrier and using a BEC as a probe we showed that by polishing the conductor edge the potential roughness on the selected wire can be reduced. Furthermore we give different other designs and discuss the creation of a 1D magnetic lattice on an atom chip.