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Integration of a two-dimensional electrostatic actuator in a new generation of atom chips

Carsten Gollasch, Z. Moktadir, E. Koukharenko, Michael D. Kraft, Darren M. Bagnall, S. Eriksson, Michael Trupke, Edward A. Hinds

Published Sep 1, 2004• 0 citations
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Abstract

Summary: In this paper we present an integrated atom chip design which incorporates a micromachined electrostatic actuator for optical cavity alignment. The two-dimensional actuator is fabricated by applying deep reactive ion etching techniques (DRIE) on a silicon-on-glass wafer. An actuation of 17.5 µm is achievable which is sufficient to compensate for the misalignment of the optical cavity during the fabrication process.

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Summary: In this paper we present an integrated atom chip design which incorporates a micromachined electrostatic actuator for optical cavity alignment. The two-dimensional actuator is fabricated by applying deep reactive ion etching techniques (DRIE) on a silicon-on-glass wafer. An actuation of 17.5 µm is achievable which is sufficient to compensate for the misalignment of the optical cavity during the fabrication process.
The development of novel experimental techniques in atomic physics is allowing for the manipulation and control of atoms in structured silicon chips. These new techniques to manipulate atoms in a chip require building micro systems on chip that support actuation, alignment control and tunability for each micro component, which requires a significant integration effort. One example of a new experimental technique in atomic physics is the realization of optical cavities which is a very attractive model for quantum information and communication, because it permits the study of light-matter effect. The important exigency of an integrated micro cavity consisting of a micro mirror and a fiber optics cable are; alignment between them to form a small cavity volume and actuation to allow for adjusment of the cavity length. In this Master thesis the fabrication of 1-D v-shape or chevron thermal actuator is proposed based on the following characteristics: the actuator exploits the thermal expansion property of silicon to generate mechanical actuation, offers linear in-plane displacement, large force in small area compared to other actuators schemes and a shuttle that is capable of carrying an optical fiber that creates an optical cavity between it and a micro-mirror. Additionally, fabrication and characterization techniques are also described for the highly reflective (99.9988\\%) micro-mirrors.
We report on the integration of small-scale optical components into silicon wafers for use in atom chips. We present an on-chip fibre-optic atom detection scheme that can probe clouds with small atom numbers. The fibres can also be used to generate microscopic dipole traps. We describe our most recent results with optical microcavities and show that single-atom detection can be realised on an atom chip. The key components have been fabricated by etching directly into the atom chip silicon substrate.
We have fabricated curved optical micromirrors on silicon. We expect to be able to form open optical cavities between these mirrors and plane mirrors coated on the ends of optical fibres. The curved mirror templates have been prepared with less than 10 nm surface roughness by means of isotropic chemical etching. Two different methods are used for the fabrication of the mirrors: the first method uses a silicon oxide mask, while the second uses dry etching to form an indentation in the silicon surface that is opened out by wet isotropic etching. After coating the silicon substrate with gold, good quality mirrors are obtained with R ∼ 98% in the near infra-red. We find that a reflectivity of approximately 98% can be achieved by this method. Cavities formed from these mirrors will be useful for manipulating single atoms.
We have integrated magneto-optical traps (MOTs) into an atom chip by etching pyramids into a silicon wafer. These have been used to trap atoms on the chip, directly from a room temperature vapor of rubidium. This new atom trapping method provides a simple way to integrate several atom sources on the same chip. It represents a substantial advance in atom chip technology and offers new possibilities for atom chip applications such as integrated single atom or photon sources and molecules on a chip.