Characterization of Suspended Membrane Waveguides towards a Photonic Atom Trap Integrated Platform.

We demonstrate an optical waveguide device, capable of supporting the high, in-vacuum, optical power necessary for evanescently trapping a single atom or a cold atom ensemble. Our photonic integrated platforms, with suspended membrane waveguides, successfully manage optical powers of ~ 30 mW to more than 6 mW over an un-tethered waveguide span of 125 um to 500 um. We also show that the platform is compatible with laser cooling and magneto-optical traps (MOTs) in the vicinity of the suspended waveguide, called the membrane MOT and the needle MOT, a key ingredient for efficient trap loading. We evaluate two novel designs that explore critical thermal management features that enable this large power handling. This work represents a significant step toward an integrated platform for coupling neutral atom quantum systems to photonic and electronic integrated circuits on silicon.