We demonstrate a miniaturised and highly robust system for performing Doppler-free spectroscopy on thermal atomic vapour for three frequencies as required for cold atom-based quantum technologies. The application of additive manufacturing techniques, together with efficient use of optical components, produce a compact, stable optical system, with a volume of 0.089 L and a weight of 120 g. The device occupies less than a tenth of the volume of, and is considerably lower cost than, conventional spectroscopic systems, but also offers excellent stability against environmental disturbances. We characterise the response of the system to changes in environmental temperature between 7 and 35 ∘ C and exposure to vibrations between 0 - 2000 Hz, finding that the system can reliably perform spectroscopic measurements despite substantial vibrational noise and temperature changes. Our results show that 3D-printed optical systems are an excellent solution for portable quantum technologies.
We demonstrate a miniaturised and highly robust system for performing Doppler-free spectroscopy on thermal atomic vapour for three frequencies as required for cold atom-based quantum technologies. The application of additive manufacturing techniques, together with efficient use of optical components, produce a compact, stable optical system, with a volume of 0.089 L and a weight of 120 g. The device occupies less than a tenth of the volume of, and is considerably lower cost than, conventional spectroscopic systems, but also offers excellent stability against environmental disturbances. We characterise the response of the system to changes in environmental temperature between 7 and 35 ∘ C and exposure to vibrations between 0 - 2000 Hz, finding that the system can reliably perform spectroscopic measurements despite substantial vibrational noise and temperature changes. Our results show that 3D-printed optical systems are an excellent solution for portable quantum technologies.
Recent advances in the preparation, control and measurement of atomic gases have led to new insights into the quantum world and unprecedented metrological sensitivities, e.g. in measuring gravitational forces and magnetic fields. The full potential of applying such capabilities to areas as diverse as biomedical imaging, non-invasive underground mapping, and GPS-free navigation can only be realised with the scalable production of efficient, robust and portable devices. We introduce additive manufacturing as a production technique of quantum device components with unrivalled design freedom and rapid prototyping. This provides a step change in efficiency, compactness and facilitates systems integration. As a demonstrator we present an ultrahigh vacuum compatible ultracold atom source dissipating less than ten milliwatts of electrical power during field generation to produce large samples of cold rubidium gases. This disruptive technology opens the door to drastically improved integrated structures, which will further reduce size and assembly complexity in scalable series manufacture of bespoke portable quantum devices.
Novel quantum technologies and devices place unprecedented demands on the performance of experimental components, while their widespread deployment beyond the laboratory necessitates increased robustness and fast affordable production.We show how the use of additive manufacturing, together with mathematical optimization techniques and innovative designs, allows the production of compact lightweight components with greatly enhanced performance.We use such components to produce a magneto-optical trap that captures approximately 2 × 10 8 rubidium atoms, employing for this purpose a compact and highly stable device for spectroscopy and optical power distribution, optimized neodymium magnet arrays for magnetic field generation, and a lightweight additively manufactured ultrahigh-vacuum chamber.We show how the use of additive manufacturing enables substantial weight reduction and stability enhancement, while also illustrating the transferability of our approach to experiments and devices across the quantum technology sector and beyond.
Recent advances in the understanding and control of quantum technologies, such as those based on cold atoms, have resulted in devices with extraordinary metrological sensitivities. To realise this potential outside of a lab environment the size, weight and power consumption need to be reduced. Here we demonstrate the use of laser powder bed fusion, an additive manufacturing technique, as a production technique for the components that make up quantum sensors. As a demonstration we have constructed two key components using additive manufacturing, namely magnetic shielding and vacuum chambers. The initial prototypes for magnetic shields show shielding factors within a factor of 3 of conventional approaches. The vacuum demonstrator device shows that 3D-printed titanium structures are suitable for use as vacuum chambers, with the test system reaching base pressures of 5±0.5×10−10 mbar, and showing an outgassing rate indistinguishable from a commercial ConFlat flange in this pressure regime. These demonstrations show considerable promise for the use of additive manufacturing for cold atom based quantum technologies, in future enabling improved integrated structures, allowing for the reduction in size, weight and assembly complexity.
The creation of cold atoms underpins quantum sensing and precision metrology, computing, timekeeping, and fundamental science experiments. Miniaturizing the lasers and optical infrastructure, which occupy over 80% of the volume of these experiments, through photonic integration could improve robustness, reliability, and manufacturability while reducing cost and enabling portable space-based precision measurements and quantum tools for non-experts. Yet, there has been limited progress towards integration of the laser and optical infrastructure required to generate cold atoms onto a single chip. We demonstrate a photonic engine that generates, controls, and delivers precision light to create cold atoms in a rubidium 3-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D-MOT). We integrate on a single chip two frequency-agile self-injection-locked lasers, laser frequency and intensity control, passive beam combining and splitting, signal monitoring, and high-efficiency beam delivery to a rubidium vapor cell. The integrated engine is shown to support multiple functions required for generating cold atoms including stable generation of low-noise cooling and repump light, frequency control for atom spectroscopy and stabilization, real-time laser monitoring, routing for laser offset locking, optical power modulation, and large-area three-beam delivery of 3 mW to the physics package. Fully electrically controlled, the engine enables sustained 3D-MOT operation, trapping more than 1 million atoms at an average temperature of 350 uK and supporting atom-number and temperature measurements. These results demonstrate the first single-chip integration of light generation, control, and delivery for cold-atom generation, offering a path toward smaller, more robust, and manufacturable cold-atom systems for applications including cold-atom clocks and sensors.
In this talk, I will outline two stands of our ongoing atomic clock research at the University of Strathclyde, aimed at achieving short-term stabilities surpassing 1e-12 in portable systems. Firstly, I present a cold-atom microwave clock that integrates a grating-MOT within an additively manufactured microwave cavity, enabling a compact and potentially highly stable portable system. The work examines noise minimisation techniques through direct comparison with a cold-atom coherent population trapping (CPT) clock. I will also discuss progress on two-photon rubidium clocks based on MEMS vapour cells with integrated optics. The results highlight their prospects for resilient PNT applications and scalable deployment.
Abstract The development of quantum technology has opened up exciting opportunities to revolutionize computing and communication, timing and navigation systems, enable noninvasive imaging of the human body, and probe fundamental physics with unprecedented precision. Alongside these advancements has come an increase in experimental complexity and a correspondingly greater dependence on compact, efficient and reliable hardware. The drive to move quantum technologies from laboratory prototypes to portable, real‐world instruments has incentivized miniaturization of experimental systems relating to a strong demand for smaller, more robust, and less power‐hungry quantum hardware and for increasingly specialized and intricate components. Additive manufacturing, already heralded as game‐changing for many manufacturing sectors, is especially well‐suited to this task owing to the comparatively large amount of design freedom it enables and its ability to produce intricate 3D forms and specialized components. Herein we review work conducted to date on the application of additive manufacturing to quantum technologies, discuss the current state of the art in additive manufacturing in optics, optomechanics, magnetic components and vacuum equipment, and consider pathways for future advancement. We also give an overview of the research and application areas most likely to be impacted by the deployment of additive manufacturing techniques within the quantum technology sector.