Atom optics on a chip

By utilizing the wave nature of atoms, one can devise a variety of atom-based devices and systems in analogy with optical versions. Integrated atom optics seeks to do for atom optics what integration has done for photon-optics, namely to miniaturize and turn atom optics into a practical technology. Already a variety of atom optical waveguides and beamsplitters have been demonstrated in research labs and now attention is turning towards the integration of coherent atom sources, that is, Bose-Einstein condensates, directly onto atom "chips." We describe some of most recent work in integrated atom optics and some of our own efforts to miniaturize atom optics systems with the help of MEMS technology.