Bose–Einstein condensate on a persistent-supercurrent atom chip

Abstract

A Bose–Einstein condensate was achieved in a stable magnetic trap on a persistent-supercurrent atom chip with a superconducting closed-loop circuit. We determined precisely the shape of the magnetic trapping potential by systematically controlling the persistent supercurrent. The condensation was verified by time-of-flight imaging and by atom number decay measurements. The measured decay rates agreed quantitatively with numerical simulations on the three-body loss process assuming all of the atoms to be a condensate. We also discuss the feasibility of creating a quasi-one-dimensional Bose gas on our atom chip.