APS » PROLA » Phys. Rev. Lett. » Volume 84 » Issue 7

Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1371 - 1373 (2000)

Propagation of Cold Atoms along a Miniature Magnetic Guide
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M. Key, I. G. Hughes *, W. Rooijakkers, B. E. Sauer, and E. A. Hinds †
Sussex Centre for Optical and Atomic Physics, University of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9QH, United Kingdom

D. J. Richardson and P. G. Kazansky
Optoelectronics Research Centre, Southampton University, SO17 1BJ, United Kingdom

Received 4 October 1999

A cloud of laser-cooled 85Rb atoms is coupled through a magnetic funnel into a miniature waveguide formed by four current-carrying wires embedded in a silica fiber. The atom cloud has a ∼100 μm radius within the fiber and propagates over cm distances. We study the coupling, propagation, and transverse distribution of atoms in the fiber, and find good agreement with theory. This prototype demonstrates the feasibility of miniature guides as a tool in the new field of integrated atom optics, leading to single-mode propagation of de Broglie waves and the possible preparation of 1D atom clouds.


©2000 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRL/v84/p1371
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.1371
PACS: 03.75.Be, 32.80.Pj, 39.10.+j

* Present address: Department of Physics, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom.
† Email address: e.a.hinds@sussex.ac.uk

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