Smooth inductively coupled ring trap for cold atom optics

The main topic in this thesis is the proof-of-principle experiment for an inductively coupled magnetic ring trap for applications in atom interferometry and quantum gas investigations. Atom interferometry utilises the wave nature of atoms for precision measurements of gravitational and inertial effe...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Dinkelaker, Aline
Published: University of Strathclyde 2013
Subjects:
530
Online Access:http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.576457
Description
Summary:The main topic in this thesis is the proof-of-principle experiment for an inductively coupled magnetic ring trap for applications in atom interferometry and quantum gas investigations. Atom interferometry utilises the wave nature of atoms for precision measurements of gravitational and inertial effects and to test fundamental physics. Due to their symmetry, their periodic boundary conditions and their large enclosed areas, ring traps provide attractive geometries for atom interferometry. By tightening the trap and reducing the trap radius, toroidal traps also have excellent conditions to study super uid properties in degenerate gases. The trapping potential for the inductively coupled magnetic ring trap is formed by the superposition of an external AC eld and a local AC eld, created by the induced current in a copper ring. These fields cancel in a ring and create a time-averaged trapping potential. By inducing the current in the conductor and using AC over DC elds several problems of existing trapping mechanisms are addressed. We create a smooth, scalable trapping potential for cold atoms. We load the inductively coupled ring trap with ~ 10p6s laser cooled p87sRb atoms. The atoms can be observed evolving around the ring in the horizontal plane, until the ring is completely filllled. We record vacuum limited lifetimes of ~ 1:3s after initial Majorana losses. With an added o set eld we also gain exibility in the trap geometry regarding the radius (~5 mm) and the trap width (~0:5 mm). In a subsequent experiment, the setup and the ring trap parameters are changed to allow for the creation of p87sRb Bose-Einstein condensate and for the implementation of atom interferometry in the ring trap. A vertical, smaller ring trap with a radius of ~ 1:8 mm is created. Laser cooled atoms are loaded either at the top or at the bottom of the ring.