| A system suitable for studying interactions between 87Rb Rydberg atoms and metal surfaces has been constructed. This thesis describes the design and construction of the apparatus, and some test results. Atoms in a vapor cell magneto-optical trap are transferred to a macroscopic Ioffe-Pritchard trap, where they will be RF evaporatively cooled and loaded into a magnetic microtrap (atom chip). Confinement of cold clouds at controllable distances (5--200 mum) from a metal surface is possible. The effects of atom-surface interactions can be studied with Rydberg atom spectroscopy.; Some functionality of the apparatus has been demonstrated. Approximately 1.5 x 107 atoms were loaded into a mirror MOT, and about 6 x 106 atoms were optically pumped to the | F = 2, mF = 2> hyperfine ground state and confined in a macroscopic Ioffe-Pritchard trap. The temperature of the cloud in the trap was 42 +/- 5 muK, and the 1/e lifetime is 1--1.5 s. Forced RF evaporation has been used to measure the magnetic field at the trap minimum, but RF evaporative cooling has not yet been demonstrated. |
