Wafer-Scale Micro-Knife Sealed Vacuum Cells for Quantum Devices

Published

January 29, 2026

Author(s)

Megan Kelleher, Konrad Ziegler, Jeremy Robin, Lianxin Huang, Mitchel Button, Liam Mauck, Peter Brewer, Danny Kim, John Kitching, William McGehee, Travis Autry

Abstract

Advanced integration technologies greatly enhance the prospects and reliability of practical quantum sensors, atomic clocks, and quantum information technologies. The performance and proliferation of these devices at chip-scale is contingent upon developing low leak and low gas permeation vacuum cells using wafer-scale techniques. Here we demonstrate both evacuated atomic beam cells and atomic vapor cells using plastic deformation micro-knife bonding of selectively etched fused silica wafers. The cells are characterized using saturated absorption spectroscopy and fluorescence measurements. Vapor cells are mechanically robust exhibiting sheer-force strength (∼ 15MPa), demonstrate long lifetimes (> 1 year), low residual gas pressures (< 10−3 mbar), and leak rates below fine-leak testing sensitivity (≪ 2.8×10−10 mBar·L s ). Micro-knife bonding greatly simplifies the fabrication process for complex chip scale atom-beam devices and atomic vapor cells while identifying a path to future chip-scale cold atom devices, improved chip scale atomic clocks, and fieldable dissipation-dilution-limited optomechanics.

Citation

Physical Review Applied

Pub Type

Journals

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Keywords

atomic vapor cells, atomic beam, bonding, MEMS

Citation

Kelleher, M. , Ziegler, K. , Robin, J. , Huang, L. , Button, M. , Mauck, L. , Brewer, P. , Kim, D. , Kitching, J. , McGehee, W. and Autry, T. (2026), Wafer-Scale Micro-Knife Sealed Vacuum Cells for Quantum Devices, Physical Review Applied, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=961413 (Accessed February 15, 2026)