Atomic Devices and Instrumentation Group

Instruments based on spectroscopy of atoms in the vapor phase, such as atomic clocks, atomic wavelength references, atom interferometers and atomic magnetometers, currently achieve outstanding levels of precision and sensitivity. However, most of these instruments are too large and complex to be operated easily outside the laboratory. Our group designs, builds and tests highly miniaturized versions of these instruments using innovative application of techniques of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS).

A recent review paper describes work worldwide on chip-scale atomic devices: J. Kitching, "Chip Scale Atomic Devices," Applied Physics Reviews, vol. 5, p. 031302, 2018.