https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2005-00092-x
Integrated optical components on atom chips
1
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London SW7 2BW, UK
2
School of Electronics and Computer Science,
University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK
Corresponding author: a stefan.eriksson@imperial.ac.uk
Received:
4
February
2005
Published online:
14
June
2005
We report on the integration of small-scale optical components into silicon wafers for use in atom chips. We present an on-chip fibre-optic atom detection scheme that can probe clouds with small atom numbers. The fibres can also be used to generate microscopic dipole traps. We describe our most recent results with optical microcavities and show that a sufficiently high finesse can be achieved to enable single-atom detection on an atom chip. The key components have been fabricated by etching directly into the atom chip silicon substrate.
PACS: 39.25.+k – Atom manipulation (scanning probe microscopy, laser cooling, etc.) / 32.80.-t – Photon interactions with atoms / 42.82.-m – Integrated optics / 42.50.Pq – Cavity quantum electrodynamics; micromasers
© EDP Sciences, Società Italiana di Fisica, Springer-Verlag, 2005