Ex vacuo atom chip Bose-Einstein condensate

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. A thin walled vacuum chamber allowed the atoms to be trapped ≲1 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 the 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 an atom chip with a cross-wire design. The atom chips were exchanged and an initial magnetic trap was achieved in less than 3 h.