  Arrays of trapped atoms are the ideal starting point for developing registers
comprising large numbers of physical qubits for storing and processing quantum
information. One very promising approach involves neutral atom traps produced
on microfabricated devices known as atom chips, as almost arbitrary trap
configurations can be realised in a robust and compact package. Until now,
however, atom chip experiments have focused on small systems incorporating
single or only a few individual traps. Here we report experiments on a
two-dimensional array of trapped ultracold atom clouds prepared using a simple
magnetic-film atom chip. We are able to load atoms into hundreds of tightly
confining and optically resolved array sites. We then cool the individual atom
clouds in parallel to the critical temperature required for quantum degeneracy.
Atoms are shuttled across the chip surface utilising the atom chip as an atomic
shift register and local manipulation of atoms is implemented using a focused
laser to rapidly empty individual traps.
