Abstract

We report on a class of configurations of permanent magnets on an atom chip for producing 1D and 2D periodic arrays of magnetic microtraps with non-zero potential minima and variable barrier height for trapping and manipulating ultracold atoms and quantum degenerate gases. We present analytical expressions for an infinite magnetic lattice for the relevant physical quantities and compare them with our numerical results. In one of the configurations of permanent magnets, we show how it is possible by changing the angle between the crossed periodic arrays of magnets to go from a 1D array of 2D microtraps to a 2D array of 3D microtraps and thus to continuously vary the barrier heights between the microtraps.