Laser-cooling in a chip-scale platform

Published

August 3, 2020

Author(s)

James P. McGilligan, Kaitlin R. Moore, Argyrios Dellis, Gabriela Martinez, E. de Clercq, Paul Griffin, A S. Arnold, E Riis, Rodolphe Boudot, John Kitching

Abstract

Chip-scale atomic devices built around micro-fabricated alkali vapor cells are at the forefront of compact metrology and atomic sensors. We demonstrate a micro-fabricated vapor cell that is actively pumped to ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) to achieve laser cooling. A grating magneto-optical trap (GMOT) is incorporated with a 4 mm-thick Si/glass vacuum cell to demonstrate the feasibility of a fully miniaturized laser cooling platform. A two-step optical excitation process in rubidium is used to overcome surface-scatter limitations to the GMOT imaging. The unambiguous miniaturization and form-customizability made available with micro-fabricated UHV cells provide a promising platform for future compact cold-atom sensors.

Citation

Applied Physics Letters

Pub Type

Journals

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DOI Link

Keywords

atom interferometer, atomic clock, laser cooling, magneto-optic trap, micromachining

Citation

McGilligan, J. , Moore, K. , Dellis, A. , Martinez, G. , de Clercq, E. , Griffin, P. , Arnold, A. , Riis, E. , Boudot, R. and Kitching, J. (2020), Laser-cooling in a chip-scale platform, Applied Physics Letters, [online], https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0014658 (Accessed October 2, 2025)