Abstract. For the last decade it has been possible to cool atoms to microkelvin temperatures (~1 cm s^-1) using a variety of optical techniques. Light beams provide the very strong frictional forces required to slow atoms from room temperature (~500 m s^-1). However, once the atoms are cold, the relatively weak conservative forces of static electric and magnetic fields play an important role. In our group we have been studying the interaction of cold rubidium atoms with periodically magnetized data storage media. Here we review the underlying principles of the forces acting on atoms above a suitably magnetized substrate or near current-carrying wires. We also summarize the status of experiments. These structures can be used as smooth or corrugated reflectors for controlling the trajectories of cold atoms. Alternatively, they may be used to confine atoms to a plane, a line, or a dot and in some cases to reach the quantum limit of confinement. Atoms levitated above a magnetized surface can be guided electrostatically by wires deposited on the surface. The flow and interaction of atoms in such a structure may form the basis of a new technology, `integrated atom optics' which might ultimately be capable of realizing a quantum computer.

Print publication: Issue 18 (21 September 1999)
Received 1 July 1999