Guiding neutral atoms on a chip

We demonstrate the guiding of neutral atoms by the magnetic fields due to m icrofabricated current carrying wires on a chip. Atoms are guided along a m agnetic field minimum parallel to and above the current-carrying wires. Two guide configurations are demonstrated: one using two wins with an external magnetic field, and a second using four wires without an external field. T hese guide geometries can be extended to integrated atom optics circuits, i ncluding beam splitters.