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European Frequency and Time Forum

Non-destructive MEMS atomic vapor cells characterization by Raman spectroscopy and image analysis

Sylvain Karlen, J. Gobet, Thomas Overstolz, Jacques Haesler

Published Apr 1, 2016• 2 citations
Publisher

Abstract

The use of innovative and non-destructive methods to characterize the content of MEMS atomic vapor cells for atomic devices is reported: Raman spectroscopy is used as a fast and quantitative method to estimate the Nitrogen pressure inside the cell cavity and image analysis is used to quantify the amount of metallic Rubidium. These techniques can be used for buffer gas pressure optimization and cell lifetime assessment.

DOI
10.1109/eftf.2016.7477804

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The use of innovative and non-destructive methods to characterize the content of MEMS atomic vapor cells for atomic devices is reported: Raman spectroscopy is used as a fast and quantitative method to estimate the Nitrogen pressure inside the cell cavity and image analysis is used to quantify the amount of metallic Rubidium. These techniques can be used for buffer gas pressure optimization and cell lifetime assessment.
Abstract Quantitative assessments of the level and lifetime of alkali metal in the atomic vapor cells are essential for improving the stability of atomic magnetometers. In this paper, a fast and non-destructive approach is proposed to directly characterize the level of 87Rb in a hermetic MEMS vapor cell. The MEMS-compatible 87Rb evaporation technique is developed to dispense 87Rb in the vapor cells with high efficiency. The morphology of the metallic 87Rb in the MEMS vapor cell is visualized by the non-destructive X-ray technique, and the measured contact angle is 43° ± 2°. Combined with the image recognition, the quantitative characterization of the 87Rb is achieved, and the consumption rates of 87Rb in MEMS cells are experimentally investigated. The presented approach is beneficial for the fabrication and performance enhancement of vapor cells for atomic magnetometers.
The microfabricated alkali atomic vapor cells are essential for the chip scale quantum sensing instruments which provide a robust, simple platform for precision measurement for a quantum system. In order to solve the problems of difficult quantitative filling of alkali atoms and poor hermeticity in the fabricated process of the cells, the preparation of microfabricated alkali atomic vapor cells with good hermeticity is studied. The cells are fabricated by the microelectromechanical system (MEMS) technology. Rubidium (Rb) atomic vapor cells with nitrogen (N 2 ) as buffer gas are successfully obtained by photolysis of rubidium azide (RbN 3 ), which is confirmed by the presence of Rb vapor in the cells through absorption spectroscopy for the 5S 1/2 → 5P 3/2 and 5S 1/2 → 5P 1/2 transitions in Rb atoms at 780 nm and 795 nm. The influences of filling amount and baking temperature of RbN 3 solution on the hermeticity of the microfabricated atomic vapor cells are demonstrated. Also, the influences of filling amount of Rb atoms and temperature on the absorption spectrum intensities of Rb vapor in the cells are studied through a theoretical analysis. This research provides a reference for the design and preparation of high quality microfabricated alkali atomic vapor cells.
MEMS vapor cells with buffer gas are the core components of chip scale atomic sensors due to the spin precession. We microfabricated rubidium vapor cells filled with neon based on MEMS technology and characterized the performance of MEMS vapor cells by measuring the longitudinal relaxation time. The dependence of spin relaxation time on buffer gas pressure and cell temperature was theoretically and experimentally investigated and the consistency was achieved. This provides a potential simpler approach to evaluate the performance of chip scale atomic sensors, such as atomic magnetometers, based on MEMS vapor cells.
Micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS)-based (chip-scale) alkali vapor cells are key components in emerging quantum technologies, where device performance critically depends on the atomic number density. Thus, it is important to have an accurate estimate of the atomic number density in MEMS-based alkali vapor cells to optimize light-matter interactions and design efficient quantum sensing systems. Here, a quantitatively validated method is presented for determining the rubidium (Rb) atomic number density in warm vapor using Single-Pass Absorption Spectroscopy (SPAS). The absolute transmission spectra are measured and modeled using the 780.24~nm and 420.29~nm transitions in Rb-filled MEMS vapor. The theoretical model employs a density-matrix formalism within the Lindblad framework and incorporates directly measurable experimental parameters, such as laser beam power, diameter, and cell temperature. The model explicitly accounts for optical pumping, Doppler broadening, and transit-time broadening effects and exhibits quantitative agreement (>99%> 99\%>99%) with experimental spectra over a broad range of temperatures (293-353~K), laser probe powers of approximately 10~μμμW-100~μμμW at the 780.24~nm transition and 8~μμμW-80~μμμW at the 420.29~nm transition, and cell lengths (2--100~mm). This method demonstrates a practical and reliable approach for determining the density of alkali vapor cells for quantum sensing, metrology, and quantum communication applications.
Abstract Vapor glass cells play a crucial role in spectroscopic research and metrology applications. As the demand for portable quantum devices grows, characterizing vapor glass cells based on their form factor becomes essential. Therefore, exploring cost-effective homemade alternatives is increasingly important in this regard. To address this, we have successfully produced a cost-effective homemade vapor cells containing rubidium atoms in our laboratory. In this work, we characterized the atomic absorption properties of the homemade vapor cells to extract the vapor pressure of atoms inside the cell and compare it to commercially available reference cells. The experimental procedure involves directing a laser beam with a wavelength of 780 nm through the vapor cell and measuring the absorption signals using a photodiode. Additionally, we calculate rubidium absorption cross section to extract the absorption data and compare it to the experimental obtained result to determine the vapor pressure within the cell. This study demonstrates that our homemade cell exhibits a comparable absorption profile and vapor pressure to that of a commercial cell. This suggests that our homemade cell is suitable for spectroscopic measurements and presents a cost-effective solution for future applications in portable quantum devices.