Trapping Ultracold Atoms in Submicron Period Magnetic Lattices

In recent years, ultracold atoms trapped in periodic lattices have attracted much attention as a simulator for condensed matter systems because of the ability to manipulate and precisely control the ultracold atoms. Periodic arrays of magnetic microtraps patterned on a magnetic film provide a potential complementary tool to conventional optical lattices for trapping arrays of ultracold atoms. Compared to optical lattices, magnetic lattices allow a higher degree of design flexibility by allowing almost arbitrary lattice geometries and they also allow lower technical noise and state-selective trapping of atoms. This paper reports the trapping of ultracold Rb-87 atoms in 0.7 mu m-period triangular and square magnetic lattices integrated on an atom chip as a step towards using magnetic lattices as a new platform for simulating condensed matter and quantum many-body phenomena in nontrivial lattice geometries.