Multimedia Gallery
Hybrid Trap Machine
Hybrid Trap Machine
Apparatus used to create a Bose-Einstein condensate (or BEC). Atoms are initially collected in a magneto-optical trap (glass cell on the right) and transferred to the hybrid loffe-Pritchard magnetic trap (front left) with the copper electromagnet coils (right) mounted on a moving cart on a tract (bottom right). Condensation is performed in the hybrid trap, which confines the atoms with a combination of electromagnetic coils and bar magnets.
The hybrid trap experiment is part of a new generation of BEC apparatus designed to be simpler and easier to build. The combination of the permanent magnets, electromagnetic coils, and mechanical track allows simple and robust creation of condensates. Because of its novel design, this apparatus provides the stability necessary to use Bose-Einstein condensates as tools for precision measurements of forces acting on atoms.
This work was supported in part by a grant from the National Science Foundation. (Date of Image: unknown) ) [One of three related images. See Next Image.]
Credit: Heather Lewandowski, JILA
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