Current Projects

 

  • To advance atom interferometer technologies based on propagation in a magnetic atom waveguide for inertial sensing (atom gyroscope)
  • To study the effect of optical delta kicked rotor on matter-wave coherences
  • To develop sources and techniques for loading and manipulating atoms in magnetic guides
  • To investigate the quasi 1-D nature of ultra-cold atoms in this unique geometry
  • To produce, control and manipulate the interactions of degenerate atoms near a surface

Techniques / Goals

 

  • High permeability, soft ferromagnetic foils provide controllable, strong magnetic fields (up to 1T/cm)
  • Novel trap geometry which can trap and cool >1x109 atoms close to a surface, which can be transferred with high efficiency to a magneto-static trap
  • Aspect ratio of the magnetic trap can be tuned between 1:1 to 1:1000
  • Expertise in microfabrication and magnetizable materials, providing an interface between macroscopic guides and microscopic 'atom chips'  
  • The quadrupole field of a 2D+ MOT can be efficiently overlapped with these magnetic guides to provide efficient transfer of a large, continuous flux (>109 atoms/s) of cold atoms into a magneto-static guide
  • Velocity control and the use of dark states give efficient transport over several centimeters in straight and curved guides

Projects

 

  • Highly anisotropic nature of these traps is attractive for studying processes such as nonlinear atom optics and collisions in the 1D limit
  • Study of the evolution of atomic states in these guided geometries and their application in interferometry
  • Development of continuous, guided sources for probing surface interactions

 

Current Atomic Physics Group:

PI
Mara Prentiss

Postdocs
Alexey Tonyushkin

Graduate Students


 

Further Information

Atom Gyroscope             Magnetic Guides for Atoms
Atom Lithography

Magnetic and Optical Tweezers

 

Recent Publications

View Selected Publications

 

Collaborations

Center For Ultracold Atoms (CUA)
Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative (MURI)