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Review of Scientific Instruments

Robust high-temperature sapphire cell for metal vapors

Jonathan Andrew Neuman, P. Wang, Alan C. Gallagher

Published Apr 1, 1995• 31 citations
Publisher

Abstract

We describe a simple vacuum cell that successfully contains high-temperature and high-density alkali-metal and alkaline-earth vapors. The transparent cell, made from sapphire parts joined by melted glass powders, operates without a buffer gas. Temperatures over 700 °C and metal-vapor densities greater than 1017 cm−3 have been achieved. Such an optical cell is useful for many atomic physics experiments where collisions with buffer gas atoms are problematic or where a spatially uniform distribution of high-density, corrosive atoms is desired.

DOI
10.1063/1.1145589

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We describe a simple vacuum cell that successfully contains high-temperature and high-density alkali-metal and alkaline-earth vapors. The transparent cell, made from sapphire parts joined by melted glass powders, operates without a buffer gas. Temperatures over 700 °C and metal-vapor densities greater than 1017 cm−3 have been achieved. Such an optical cell is useful for many atomic physics experiments where collisions with buffer gas atoms are problematic or where a spatially uniform distribution of high-density, corrosive atoms is desired.
Characteristics of a diffusion-bonded sapphire cell for optical experiments with hot metal vapors were investigated. The sapphire cell consisted of sapphire-crystal plates and a borosilicate-glass tube, which were bonded to each other by diffusion bonding without any binders or glues. The glass tube was attached to a vacuum manifold using the standard method applied in glass processing, filled with a small amount of Rb metal by chasing with a torch, and then sealed. The cell was baked at high temperatures, and optical experiments were then performed using rubidium atoms at room temperature. The sapphire cell was found to be vacuum tight, at least up to 350°C, and the sapphire walls remained clear over all temperatures. From the optical experiments, the generation of a background gas was indicated after baking at 200°C. The background gas pressure was low enough to avoid pressure broadening of absorption lines but high enough to cause velocity-changing collisions of Rb atoms. The generated gas pressure decreased at higher temperatures, probably due to chemical reactions.
We demonstrate strontium (Sr) atomic vapor cells having a total external volume of 0.63 cm 3 that can operate above 300 °C for times exceeding 380 h. The cells are fabricated using micromachined silicon frames anodically bonded to glass windows that have a 20-nm thick protective layer of Al 2 O 3 deposited on the interior surfaces. The presence of Sr vapor in the cell is confirmed through laser absorption spectroscopy for the 1 S 0 → 1 P 1 transition in Sr at 461 nm. Measurements of sub-Doppler linewidths indicated negligible (<3 MHz) broadening of this transition from residual background gas collisions. This compact and manufacturable, high-temperature atomic vapor cell can enable narrow-line optical frequency references based on strontium and other alkaline earth species.
Antirelaxation surface coatings allow long spin relaxation times in alkali-metal cells without buffer gas, enabling faster diffusion of the alkali atoms throughout the cell and giving larger signals due to narrower optical linewidths. Effective coatings were previously unavailable for operation at temperatures above 80 °C. We demonstrate that octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) can allow potassium or rubidium atoms to experience hundreds of collisions with the cell surface before depolarizing, and that an OTS coating remains effective up to about 170 °C for both potassium and rubidium. We consider the experimental concerns of operating without buffer gas and with minimal quenching gas at high vapor density, studying the stricter need for effective quenching of excited atoms and deriving the optical rotation signal shape for atoms with resolved hyperfine structure in the spin-temperature regime. As an example of a high-temperature application of antirelaxation coated alkali vapor cells, we operate a spin-exchange relaxation-free atomic magnetometer with sensitivity of 6 fT/Hz and magnetic linewidth as narrow as 2 Hz.
This paper focuses on standardized fabrications of atomic vapor cells with multipass cells. For this purpose, we build a vacuum system that enables the sealing of the multipass-cavity-assisted cell under vacuum. Alkali atoms are prepared inside a glass holder, and the tip of the holder is broken by controlled collisions under vacuum. Atoms are then transferred to a cell glass body part by heating. Once enough atoms accumulate inside the glass part, buffer and quenching gases are filled into the system, and the glass body part is moved to contact the silicon wafer which is bonded with a Herriott-cavity. Then the cavity part and the glass part are sealed together using the anodic bonding technique. The resulting vapor cells provide enhanced measurement sensitivity and improved device standardization, which allows for seamless replacements of each other in practical applications. The performances of these cells are tested, including a test in a double-resonance alkali-metal atomic magnetometer. A magnetic field sensitivity of 95 fT/Hz1/2 is achieved in a frequency range from 10 to 20 Hz with a multipass cell filled with 400 Torr (1 Torr = 1.33×102 Pa) N2 and natural Rb atoms at 100 ℃. The technology and cells developed in this work are expected to have wide applications in atomic devices, especially in He magnetometers and nuclear-spin atomic co-magnetometers, which have special requirements for cell qualities.