Eur. Phys. J. D 63, 17-23 (2011)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2011-10680-8

Regular Article

Experimental system for research on ultracold atomic gases near superconducting microstructures

CQ Center for Collective Quantum Phenomena and their Applications, Physikalisches Institut, Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 14, 72076 Tübingen, Germany

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Received: 30 November 2010
Received in final form: 14 January 2011
Published online: 27 April 2011

Abstract

We describe an experimental system that integrates the techniques for producing ultracold atomic gases with the techniques for cooling solid bodies to cryogenic temperatures. Ultracold clouds of ⁸⁷Rb are prepared in a trap setup based on room-temperature coils and subsequently transported to a superconducting microstructure by means of optical tweezers. The superconducting microstructure generates a magnetic microtrap and is cooled by a helium-flow cryostat that can achieve temperatures down to 2 K. Both the room-temperature trap setup and the superconducting microtrap are installed in the same ultra-high-vacuum chamber. The presented system is well suited to create hybrid quantum systems by combining ultracold atomic gases and superconducting devices.