A Compact, Transportable, Microchip-Based System for High Repetition Rate Production of Bose-Einstein Condensates

We present a compact, transportable system that produces Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) near the surface of an integrated atom microchip. The system occupies a volume of 0.4 m^3 and operates at a repetition rate as high as 0.3 Hz. Evaporative cooling in a chip trap with trap frequencies of several kHz leads to nearly pure condensates containing 1.9x10^4 87Rb atoms. Partial condensates are observed at a temperature of 1.58(8) \mu K, close to the theoretical transition temperature of 1.1 \mu K.