Now that atoms can be confined within quantum dots that are just a hundred nanometres across, or made to flow in long narrow tubes, rather like electrons in a very thin wire, we are becoming aware of the astonishing possibility of a completely new technology that is similar to microelectronics but is based on the controlled flow and interaction of cold atoms. Such devices - know as atom chips - could exploit the laws of quantum mechanics to accomplish extraordinary feats of measurement or computation. Currently the chips are quite primitive, consisting of a few current-carrying wires deposited onto a substrate. Nevertheless, atoms chips are generating great excitement because the idea has such immense potential.
In the July issue of Physics World, Ed Hinds of the Sussex Centre for Optical and Atomic Physics, University of Sussex, UK, explains how microfabricated devices that manipulate ultracold atoms are set to exploit some of the most profound ideas in quantum mechanics.