Guided transport of ultracold gases of rubidium up to a room-temperature dielectric surface

Abstract

We report on the guided transport of an atomic sample along an optical waveguide up to a room-temperature dielectric surface. The technique exploits a simple hybrid trap consisting of a single beam dipole trap positioned ~125 μm below the field zero of a magnetic quadrupole potential. Transportation is realized by applying a moderate bias field (<12 G) to displace the magnetic field zero of the quadrupole potential along the axis of the dipole trap. We use the technique to demonstrate that atomic gases may be controllably transported over 8 mm with negligible heating or loss. The transport path is completely defined by the optical waveguide and we demonstrate that, by aligning the waveguide through a super polished prism, ultracold atoms may be controllably delivered up to a predetermined region of a surface.