Bose-Einstein condensation on a superconducting atom chip

Cédric Roux (1) , Andreas Emmert (1) , Adrian Lupascu (1) , Thomas Nirrengarten (1) , Gilles Nogues (1) , Michel Brune (1) , Jean-Michel Raimond (1) , Serge Haroche (1, 2)

1 LKB (Lhomond) - Laboratoire Kastler Brossel
2 LKB [Collège de France] - Laboratoire Kastler Brossel

We have produced a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) on an atom chip using only superconducting wires in a cryogenic environment. We observe the onset of condensation for 1·10^4 atoms at a temperature of 100 nK. This result opens the way for studies of atom losses and decoherence in a BEC interacting with a superconducting surface. Studies of dipole-blockade with long-lived Rydberg atoms in a small and dense atomic sample are underway.

Mots clés: BEC; atom chip; superconductor; cold atoms

Domaines: Physique Quantique [quant-ph]

Cédric Roux, Andreas Emmert, Adrian Lupascu, Thomas Nirrengarten, Gilles Nogues, et al.. Bose-Einstein condensation on a superconducting atom chip. EPL - Europhysics Letters, 2008, 81, pp.56004. ⟨10.1209/0295-5075/81/56004⟩. ⟨hal-00347259⟩