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Using graphene conductors to enhance the functionality of atom chips

K. Wongcharoenbhorn, R. Crawford, N. Welch, F. Wang, G. Sinuco-León, P. Krüger, F. Intravaia, C. Koller, and T. M. Fromhold
Phys. Rev. A 104, 053108 – Published 16 November 2021
Physics logo See synopsis: Longer Trapping Expected for Graphene Atom Chips

Abstract

We show that the performance and functionality of atom chips can be transformed by using graphene-based van der Waals heterostructures to overcome present limitations on the lifetime of the trapped atom cloud and on its proximity to the chip surface. Our analysis involves Green's-function calculations of the thermal (Johnson) noise and Casimir-Polder atom-surface attraction produced by the atom chip. This enables us to determine the lifetime limitations produced by spin flip, tunneling, and three-body collisional losses. Compared with atom chips that use thick metallic conductors and substrates, atom-chip structures based on two-dimensional materials reduce the minimum attainable atom-surface separation to a few hundred nanometers and increase the lifetimes of the trapped atom clouds by orders of magnitude so that they are limited only by the quality of the background vacuum. We predict that atom chips with two-dimensional conductors will also reduce spatial fluctuations in the trapping potential originating from imperfections in the conductor patterns. These advantages will enhance the performance of atom chips for quantum sensing applications and for fundamental studies of complex quantum systems.

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  • Received 7 May 2021
  • Accepted 27 September 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevA.104.053108

©2021 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Atomic, Molecular & OpticalCondensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

synopsis

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Longer Trapping Expected for Graphene Atom Chips

Published 16 November 2021

Predictions indicate that atom chips that use graphene contacts in their circuitry rather than metal ones can trap atoms for significantly longer times.

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Authors & Affiliations

K. Wongcharoenbhorn1, R. Crawford1, N. Welch1, F. Wang1, G. Sinuco-León1,2, P. Krüger1,3, F. Intravaia1,4, C. Koller1,5, and T. M. Fromhold1

  • 1School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, United Kingdom
  • 2Department of Chemistry, Durham University, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, United Kingdom
  • 3Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9QH, United Kingdom
  • 4Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Physik, AG Theoretische Optik & Photonik, 12489 Berlin, Germany
  • 5University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, Johannes Gutenberg-Straße 3, 2700 Wiener Neustadt, Austria

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Issue

Vol. 104, Iss. 5 — November 2021

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