A fast-switching high-critical-temperature superconducting magnetic trap for atoms and molecules

We present a 1 T deep high-critical-temperature (high-Tc) superconducting magnetic trap with magnetic field transients reaching 2000 T/s, spatial gradients of ∼0.3 T/mm, and arbitrarily tunable time evolution of the trapping field intensity for durations up to several minutes. In addition, our trap driver electronic circuit allows independent operation of the two superconducting coils with only a single high-current power supply and two cryogenic leads. By implementing the possibility to change polarity of the current pulse in one of the trap coils, we enable a compact design that facilitates the loading sequence of a high-gradient magnetic quadrupole trap.