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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/30195
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- Title
- Scanning magnetoresistance microscopy of atom chips
- Author(s)
- Volk, M.; Whitlock, S. M.; Wolff, C. H.; Hall, B. V.; Sidorov, A. I.
- Abstract
- Surface based geometries of microfabricated wires or patterned magnetic films can be used to magnetically trap and manipulate ultracold neutral atoms or Bose-Einstein condensates. We investigate the magnetic properties of such atom chips using a scanning magnetoresistive (MR) microscope with high spatial resolution and high field sensitivity. By comparing MR scans of a permanent magnetic atom chip to field profiles obtained using ultracold atoms, we show that MR sensors are ideally suited to observe small variations of the magnetic field caused by imperfections in the wires or magnetic materials which ultimately lead to fragmentation of ultracold atom clouds. Measurements are also provided for the magnetic field produced by a thin current-carrying wire with small geometric modulations along the edge. Comparisons of our measurements with a full numeric calculation of the current flow in the wire and the subsequent magnetic field show excellent agreement. Our results highlight the use of scanning MR microscopy as a convenient and powerful technique for precisely characterizing the magnetic fields produced near the surface of atom chips.
- Publication type
- Journal article
- Research centre
- Swinburne University of Technology. Faculty of Engineering and Industrial Sciences. Centre for Atom Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy
- Source
- Review of Scientific Instruments, Vol. 79, no. 2 (2008), Article no. 023702
- Publication year
- 2008
- Keyword(s)
- Bose-Einstein condensation; Magnetic thin films; Magnetoresistive devices; Microscopy; MR
- Publisher
- American Institute of Physics
- ISSN
- 0034-6748
- Publisher URL
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.2839015
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2008 American Institute of Physics. Published version of this paper reproduced with the kind permission of the publisher.
- Full text
- Peer reviewed
