Eur. Phys. J. D 35, 69-73 (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2005-00171-0

A reciprocal magnetic trap for neutral atoms

Center for Ultracold Atoms, Jefferson Laboratory, Physics Department, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 02138, USA

Corresponding author: ^a mukund@mit.edu

Received: 16 March 2005
Published online: 21 June 2005

Abstract

A novel magnetic trap for confining ultracold neutral atoms in a ring is proposed. The magnetic trap is generated by a microfabricated ferromagnetic structure integrated on an “atom chip”. The structure is based on previously demonstrated fabrication techniques and is capable of creating tightly confining reciprocal traps with trap frequencies as large as 50 kHz. Also, the trap exhibits significantly smaller magnetic field inhomogeneities compared to other proposals for current-based reciprocal traps. The suitability of this trap for atom interferometry and the study of low dimensional ultracold systems is outlined.