A Bose Einstein condensate in a microtrap

Abstract

We describe an experiment to create a sizable 87Rb Bose–Einstein condensate (BEC) in a simple magnetic microtrap, created by a current through a Z-shaped wire and a homogeneous bias field. The BEC is created close to a reflecting surface. It is an ideal coherent source for experiments with cold atoms close to surfaces, be it small-volume microtraps or directly studying the interactions between cold atoms and a warm surface.