Magnetic transport of trapped cold atoms over a large distance - art. no. 031401

We report the transport of magnetically trapped cold atoms over a large dis tance. Atoms are captured in a magneto-optical trap (MOT) and loaded into a magnetic quadrupole trap. The quadrupole potential is then moved over a di stance of 33 cm into an ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) chamber using a chain of qu adrupole coils. By running suitable currents through the quadrupole coil pa irs the trapping geometry of the potential is maintained during the transpo rt process, thus minimizing heating of the trapped atom cloud. Magnetically trapped Rb-87 atoms at an initial temperature of T=125 muK were heated by less than 20 muK during the transport process, and up to 10(9) atoms were t ransferred into the UHV chamber. Due to the spatial separation of the final magnetic trap and the MOT we have been able to capture atoms in the MOT, w hile storing magnetically trapped atoms in the UHV chamber.