A surface-patterned chip as a strong source of ultracold atoms for quantum technologies

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Abstract
Laser-cooled atoms are central to modern precision measurements1,2,3,4,5,6. They are also increasingly important as an enabling technology for experimental cavity quantum electrodynamics7,8, quantum information processing9,10,11 and matter–wave interferometry12. Although significant progress has been made in miniaturizing atomic metrological devices13,14, these are limited in accuracy by their use of hot atomic ensembles and buffer gases. Advances have also been made in producing portable apparatus that benefits from the advantages of atoms in the microkelvin regime15,16. However, simplifying atomic cooling and loading using microfabrication technology has proved difficult17,18. In this Letter we address this problem, realizing an atom chip that enables the integration of laser cooling and trapping into a compact apparatus. Our source delivers ten thousand times more atoms than previous magneto-optical traps with microfabricated optics and, for the first time, can reach sub-Doppler temperatures. Moreover, the same chip design offers a simple way to form stable optical lattices. These features, combined with simplicity of fabrication and ease of operation, make these new traps a key advance in the development of cold-atom technology for high-accuracy, portable measurement devices.
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