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Coherence in Microchip Traps

Philipp Treutlein, Peter Hommelhoff, Tilo Steinmetz, Theodor W. Hänsch, Jakob Reichel

quant-pharXiv:quant-ph/0311197

Abstract

We report the coherent manipulation of internal states of neutral atoms in a magnetic microchip trap. Coherence lifetimes exceeding 1 s are observed with atoms at distances of 5-130 μm from the microchip surface. The coherence lifetime in the chip trap is independent of atom-surface distance within our measurement accuracy, and agrees well with the results of similar measurements in macroscopic magnetic traps. Due to the absence of surface-induced decoherence, a miniaturized atomic clock with a relative stability in the 10-13 range can be realized. For applications in quantum information processing, we propose to use microwave near-fields in the proximity of chip wires to create potentials that depend on the internal state of the atoms.

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