• dipole trap

Rydberg Atomtronics is the primary subject of this work. Atomtronics is a field
of physics in which matter-wave circuits of ultra cold atoms are studied. The
term ”Atomtronics” comes from the abbreviation ”Atom Electronics,” meaning
that neutral atoms play a similar role to the electron in electronics. The aim of
Rydberg Atomtronics is to establish a new concept of quantum circuits in which
Rydberg excitations, instead of matter, can spread through in atomic networks,
such as 1D or 2D arrays. Therefore, understanding how to produce such atomic
networks is essential. The dipole trap is the most used method for trapping atoms
for this purpose.
In this study, I built the experimental set-up for a single dipole trap from scratch.
Finding a lens structure that complemented the MOT’s existing construction while
also having a potential well that was deep enough to capture cold atoms directly
from MOT was a challenging task.
Once it was clear that we were indeed trapping atoms in the dipole trap, we measured the life time of the atoms as well as their temperature. In order to determine the temperature, I employed two distinct protocols, each of which is based on a Time-Of-Flight (TOF) experiment. In this experiment, a cloud is released from a dipole trap, and the temperature can be determined by measuring the thermal expansion of the cold atoms cloud.