Atom Chips - Integrated Circuits for Nanoscale Manipulation of Cold Atoms

原子芯片由微小的电、磁和光学结构组成，这些结构被微加工在硅或硅衬底上。由芯片产生的磁力、电场或光能被用来操纵低温原子云，通常是在1微开尔文或更低的温度。云中的原子数量是可以调整的，通常从一万个原子一直到只有一个原子。云可以以可控的方式从芯片的一部分移动到另一部分，并且与表面的距离可以根据需要调整到1-100微米范围内的任何期望值。为了进行干涉测量，可以通过操纵限制势的形状来分裂和重组原子。它们也可以进出高精细的光学腔，允许原子与光子的耦合，或者实际上是单个原子与单个光子的耦合。所有这些都是在过去几年中由世界各地的一些团体开发的，由于欧洲网络和强大的国家资助，欧洲的力量尤其强大。英国一直是这一领域的领导者之一，在过去的四年里，它得到了“原子芯片”基础技术项目的支持：用于纳米级冷原子操纵的集成电路。总的来说，这个基本操作工具箱相当于一种新技术的雏形，在这种新技术中，对原子及其相互作用和与光子的相互作用的微观控制可以发挥有用的作用。量子力学是这项技术的核心，因为原子的德布罗意波长与所使用的阱尺寸相当，而且原子通常处于其运动的量子基态。有时整个原子系综处于多体量子基态（BEC），有时我们使用单原子或单光子。到目前为止，这种利用量子力学的新能力仅限于高度专业化的激光实验室的演示实验，比如帝国理工学院的冷物质中心。现在我们提议进入一个新的发展阶段。我们将探讨如何将这些基本操作的组合集成到单个芯片上的系统中，这些系统足够强大，可以执行有用的功能。这一阶段的研究是基础技术原子芯片项目的自然后续，因为它是使新的基础技术与商业世界接触的必要步骤。这也是一个高风险的阶段，只有在我们的技术能力得到像这项翻译拨款这样的资助的情况下才能继续进行。我们将探索的具体原子芯片器件包括时钟、加速度计、干涉仪、磁力计、单光子源、量子信息处理器和分子陷阱。当特别有前途的设计从这一探索中出现时，我们将寻求更具体的支持，以将其商业化。

Atom chips consist of small electric, magnetic and optical structures microfabricated on silicon or silica substrates. Magnetic electric or optical forces produced by the chip are used to manipulate low temperature atom clouds, typically at one microKelvin or below. The number of atoms in the cloud can be adjusted, ranging typically from ten thousand all the way down to just one atom. The clouds can be moved in a controlled way from one part of the chip to another and the distance from the surface can be adjusted as needed to any desired value in the range 1-100 microns. The atoms can be split and recombined by manipulating the shape of the confining potentials in order to perform interferometry. They can also be moved in and out of high-finesse optical cavities, allowing the coupling of atoms to photons, or indeed the coupling of a single atom to a single photon. All this has been developed over the last few years by a few groups throughout the world, with particular strength being in Europe as a result of European Networks and strong national funding. The UK has been among the leaders in this field, supported over the last four years by the Basic Technology project Atom Chips: integrated circuits for nanoscale manipulation of cold atoms . Taken all together, this toolbox of elementary operations amounts to the embryo of a new technology in which the microscopic control of atoms and their interactions with each other and with photons can perform useful functions. Quantum mechanics is at the heart of this technology because the atomic de Broglie wavelength is comparable with the trap sizes used and often the atoms are in the quantum ground state of their motion. Sometimes the whole ensemble of atoms is in its many-body quantum ground state (BEC) and sometimes we are using single atoms or single photons. So far, this new capability to harness quantum mechanics has been confined to demonstration experiments in highly specialised laser laboratories such as the Centre for Cold Matter at Imperial College. Now we propose to move to a new phase of development. We will explore how combinations of these basic operations can be integrated on a single chip into systems robust enough to perform useful functions. This phase of the research is a natural sequel to the Basic Technology Atom Chips project because it is the necessary step that can allow the new basic technology to make contact with the commercial world. This is also a high-risk phase, which can only proceed if our technical capability is safely underpinned by a grant such as this Translation Grant. Specific atom chip devices that we will explore include clocks, accelerometers, interferometers, magnetometers, single photon sources, quantum information processors and molecule traps. When particularly promising designs emerge from this exploration, we will seek more specific support to commercialise them.