Design and initial characterization of tunable lens system for cold atom transport*

At temperatures near absolute zero, bosons form a macroscopic quantum state that can be manipulated and imaged in a very controlled and tunable way. To reach these extreme temperatures near absolute zero, advanced methods in cooling, including laser and evaporative cooling, must be used. In addition to these techniques for cooling, atoms must also be held up against the constant pull of gravity, so additional trapping techniques using lasers and magnets are used. In our lab at University of San Diego, we are implementing a tunable lens setup to optically transfer atoms to a more optically accessible location. A tunable lens is a lens where the curvature of the lens can be adjusted through an applied electrical current, thus translating where the focus of a lens is in a controlled way. This research aims to discover the optimal setup for a tunable lens system to be used in the transportation of ultracold atoms in our system. In this poster, I will report on developing the tunable lens setup, characterizing the laser beam shape, and testing the translational stability to provide reproducible transfer of atoms.