This new machine is built around a small glass vacuum cell that allows high-resolution patterning of confining potentials and imaging of resulting atom configurations, while producing large atom number condensates (4x106). We trap atoms in a combination of optical and magnetic fields, with optical confinement given by a 1920X1200 digital micromirror device (DMD). The achieved high resolution of the microscope objectives allows us to pattern the density of our BECs with high precision.
The DMD is imaged to the atoms where it is crossed with a vertically confining sheet:
We are exploring several areas of research on this apparatus:
- Superfluid transport
- Superfluid turbulence
- Anharmonic potentials
- Atomtronics
We are currently focusing on 87Rb BECs, but are also able to utitilise a second bosonic atomic species, 41K.