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arXiv:2410.16440 · Applied Physics Letters

Long spin-1/2 noble gas coherence times in mm-sized anodically bonded batch-fabricated 3He-129Xe-87Rb cells

Mark E. Limes, Nezih Dural, Michael V. Romalis, Elizabeth L. Foley, Thomas W. Kornack, Andrew Nelson, L. Grisham

Published Mar 1, 2025• 9 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

As the only stable spin-1/2 noble gas isotopes, 3He and 129Xe are promising systems for inertial rotation sensing and searches for exotic spin couplings. Spin-1/2 noble gases have intrinsic coherence times in the order of hours to days, which allows for incredibly low frequency error of free-precession measurements. However, relaxation in miniature cells is dominated by interactions with the cell wall, which limits the performance of a chip-scale sensor that uses noble gases. While 129Xe wall relaxation times have previously been limited to 10s of seconds in mm-sized cells, we demonstrate the first anodically bonded batch-fabricated cells with dual 3He-129Xe isotopes and 87Rb in a 6 mm3 volume with 3He and 129Xe T2 coherence times of, respectively, 4 h and 300 s. We use these microfabricated cells in a dual noble gas comagnetometer and discuss its limits.

DOI
10.1063/5.0245061

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As the only stable spin-1/2 noble gas isotopes, 3He and 129Xe are promising systems for inertial rotation sensing and searches for exotic spin couplings. Spin-1/2 noble gases have intrinsic coherence times in the order of hours to days, which allows for incredibly low frequency error of free-precession measurements. However, relaxation in miniature cells is dominated by interactions with the cell wall, which limits the performance of a chip-scale sensor that uses noble gases. While 129Xe wall relaxation times have previously been limited to 10s of seconds in mm-sized cells, we demonstrate the first anodically bonded batch-fabricated cells with dual 3He-129Xe isotopes and 87Rb in a 6 mm3 volume with 3He and 129Xe T2 coherence times of, respectively, 4 h and 300 s. We use these microfabricated cells in a dual noble gas comagnetometer and discuss its limits.
We report on the fabrication and characterization of MEMS atomic vapor cells suitable for applications in miniaturized quantum sensors such as atomic gyroscopes. Our MEMS cells are filled with natural abundance Rb alkali atoms and enriched noble Xe atoms and are operated in the regime of spin exchange optical pumping. The transverse relaxation time T2* of the nuclear spin in 129Xe atoms directly defines the angular random walk parameter of an atomic gyroscope. Using a field switch technique, we measure the dephasing time T2* of the 129Xe isotope as a function of temperature. Our results showing a decrease of T2* from about 1 to 0.4 seconds with an increasing temperature in the range from 80 to 150 °C are in good agreement with a simple theoretical model taking into account the most important decoherence mechanisms. We show that the observed decoherence behavior can be mostly explained trough collisions of the Xe atoms with the walls. Further characterization steps in order to gain more insight in the decoherence physics involved in our MEMS cells are discussed.
The combination of MEMS technology with atomic spin devices could fabricate chip scale atomic sensors. In most of the atomic devices based on alkali metals, the key component is an alkali vapor cell. Here we describe an alkali vapor cell fabrication technic for atomic spin gyroscope study. In the alkali vapor cell, alkali metal is filled in an oxygen and water free glovebox and noble gas isotopes such as129Xe and131Xe are also filled. Compared to an atomic magnetometer, in an atomic spin gyroscope, the isotope enriched noble gases are typically very expensive. We need to do recycling of these expensive gases after filling in the anode bonding chamber or else the gases will be wasted. Due to the large volume of the anode bonding chamber utilized in the fabrication process, a recycling platform is built based on liquid nitrogen. The relaxation time is a very important parameter of an alkali vapor cell. We developed a platform with magnetic field shielding system, non-magnetic field heating and single beam atomic spin detection subsystem. The spin relaxation time of the noble gases is tested in this study.
An experimental setup to fabricate atomic vapor cells for atom spin gyroscope application, containing 87Rb, 129Xe, 131Xe, N2, and H2, is described. The setup comprises a high-vacuum chamber, an 87Rb ampule, a glass cell, gas lines, and a turbopump. First, the glass cell is baked for a week at 450 °C to reduce outgassing from the inner walls of the glass cell. Next, rubidium atoms are evaporated into the cubic glass cell. Then, the cubic glass cell is cooled to 2 °C to increase the amount of 87Rb in the cubic glass cell while the vacuum chamber is heated to 100 °C. 6 Torr of 129Xe, 48 Torr of 131Xe, 140 Torr of N2, and 24 Torr of H2 are injected into the cubic glass cell. The sealing method employs pinch-off glass welding. The transverse spin relaxation times of 129Xe and 131Xe at a magnetic field of 6.2 µT applied to the quantization axis are measured to be 8.1 and 16.5 s, respectively, at a cell temperature of 96 °C using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The pressure ratio between 129Xe and 131Xe is determined by comparing the output signals from our atom spin gyroscope. The signal-to-noise ratios are 2500 for 129Xe and 3333 for 131Xe, respectively, and the expected angular random walk of the atom spin gyroscope is 0.062°/h1/2 with a 1-Hz repetition rate.
We describe the microfabrication of 85 Rb vapour cells using a glass-silicon anodic bonding technique and in situ chemical reaction between rubidium chloride and barium azide to produce Rb. Under controlled conditions, the pure metallic Rb drops and buffer gases were obtained in the cells with a few mm 3 internal volumes during the cell sealing process. At an ambient temperature of 90 °C the optical absorption resonance of 85 Rb D1 transition with proper broadening and the corresponding coherent population trapping (CPT) resonance, with a signal contrast of 1.5% and linewidth of about 1.7 kHz, have been detected. The sealing quality and the stability of the cells have also been demonstrated experimentally by using the helium leaking detection and the after-9-month optoelectronics measurement which shows a similar CPT signal as its original status. In addition, the physics package of chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC) based on the cell was realized. The measured frequency stability of the physics package can reach to 2.1 × 10 −10 at one second when the cell was heated to 100 °C which proved that the cell has the quality to be used in portable and battery-operated devices.
Self-compensated comagnetometers, employing overlapping samples of spin-polarized alkali and noble gases (for example K-3He{}^{3}\mathrm{He}3He) are promising sensors for exotic beyond-the-standard-model fields and high-precision metrology such as rotation sensing. When the comagnetometer operates in the so-called self-compensated regime, the effective field, originating from contact interactions between the alkali valence electrons and the noble-gas nuclei, is compensated with an applied magnetic field. When the comagnetometer begins operation in a given magnetic field, spin-exchange optical pumping establishes an equilibrium between the alkali electron-spin polarization and the nuclear-spin polarization. Subsequently, when the magnetic field is tuned to the compensation point, the spin polarization is brought out of the equilibrium conditions. This causes a practical issue for long measurement times. We report on a method for closed-loop control of the compensation field. This method allows optimization of the operating parameters, especially magnetic field gradients, in spite of the inherently slow (hours to days) dynamics of the system. With the optimization, higher stable nuclear polarization, longer relaxation times, and stronger electron-nuclear coupling are achieved which is useful for nuclear-spin-based quantum memory, spin amplifiers, and gyroscopes. The optimized sensor demonstrates a sensitivity comparable to the best previous comagnetometer but with four times lower noble-gas density. This paves the way for applications in both fundamental and applied science.
The microfabrication of cesium vapor cells for optically pumped magnetometry relies on optimization of buffer gas pressure in order to maximize atomic coherence time and sensitivity to external magnetic signals. We demonstrate post-bond nitrogen buffer gas pressure tuning through localized heating of an integrated micropill dispenser. We characterize the variation in the intrinsic longitudinal relaxation rate, γ 10 , and magnetic sensitivity, as a function of the resulting nitrogen buffer gas pressure. Measurements are conducted by employing an optically pumped magnetometer operating in a free-induction-decay configuration. γ 10 is extracted across a range of nitrogen pressures between 60 and 700 torr, measuring a minimum of 140 Hz at 115 torr. In addition, we achieve sensitivities as low as 130 fT / Hz at a bias field amplitude of about 50 μ T . With the optimal nitrogen buffer gas pressure now quantified and achievable post-fabrication, these mass-producible cells can be tailored to suit a variety of sensing applications, ensuring peak magnetometer performance. Published by the American Physical Society 2024