Realization of a superconducting atom chip
  We have trapped rubidium atoms in the magnetic field produced by a superconducting atom chip operated at liquid Helium temperatures. Up to $8.2\cdot 10^5$ atoms are held in a Ioffe-Pritchard trap at a distance of 440 $\mu$m from the chip surface, with a temperature of 40 $\mu$K. The trap lifetime reaches 115 s at low atomic densities. These results open the way to the exploration of atom--surface interactions and coherent atomic transport in a superconducting environment, whose properties are radically different from normal metals at room temperature. 
Thomas Nirrengarten (LKB - Lhomond), Angie Qarry (LKB - Lhomond),   C\'edric Roux (LKB - Lhomond), Andreas Emmert (LKB - Lho...