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IEEE International Conference on Nano/Micro Engineered and Molecular Systems

Preparation of 3D Alkali Vapor Cell with Vertical Sidewalls

Jin Zhang, Jianfeng Zhang, Jintang Shang

Published Apr 14, 2022• 1 citation
Publisher

Abstract

This paper demonstrates a new type of 3D alkali vapor cell with vertical sidewalls. We use anisotropic wet etching to prepare blind holes with vertical sidewalls on a (100) silicon wafer, and then complete the preparation of the alkali vapor cell through glass reflow and anodic bonding. The cell is a silicon-glass double-layer structure with a height of 1.7 mm, and the optical path is parallel to the silicon substrate. The 3D alkali vapor cell is suitable for both single - and multi-beam atomic sensors.

DOI
10.1109/nems54180.2022.9791194

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This paper demonstrates a new type of 3D alkali vapor cell with vertical sidewalls. We use anisotropic wet etching to prepare blind holes with vertical sidewalls on a (100) silicon wafer, and then complete the preparation of the alkali vapor cell through glass reflow and anodic bonding. The cell is a silicon-glass double-layer structure with a height of 1.7 mm, and the optical path is parallel to the silicon substrate. The 3D alkali vapor cell is suitable for both single - and multi-beam atomic sensors.
Abstract We demonstrate a new technique for filling mm-scale microfabricated silicon and glass cavities with alkali vapors at the wafer-scale. A single etched silicon wafer contains an array of cavities containing alkali precursor materials offset laterally from the cell array. The wafer is heated to create an array of alkali droplets on an upper glass wafer, which is then translated laterally under vacuum and bonded to create the cells. This technique can be implemented in a commercially available bonding tool, allows the fabrication of cells with arbitrary buffer gas contents and pressures and can potentially produce cells with dimensions below 100 µm.
The fabrication processes of chip-scale alkali atom vapor cells are designed, which include silicon micromachining, filling arrays of miniaturized cells with rubidium azide, hermetic packaging using anodic bonding technology, and photodecomposition of rubidium azide. The improved anodic bonding technology is demonstrated and used to improve the gastight bonding of alkali atom vapor cells to the glass/silicon/glass bonding structure. After the anodic bonding of the glass and silicon wafer is finished, an Al metal film with a certain thickness is sputtered at a certain angle at the back (i.e., the glass side) and side of the glass/silicon-bonded structure. Therefore, the electrical contact is led into the silicon wafer when a second anodic bonding is performed, and a high-quality glass/silicon/glass bonding structure is realized. Such anodic structures have great bond strength and gastight bonding of as low as 2.5×10-8Pa·m3·s-1. After gastight sealing, the cells are irradiated with ultraviolet, causing the azide to photodissociate into pure rubidium and nitrogen in situ. Rubidium optical absorption spectrum indicates that rubidium atoms are effectively sealed in the cells. It is confirmed that the process for the fabrication of the chip-scale alkali atom vapor cells is simple and feasible.
Abstract Microfabricated alkali vapor cells enable the miniaturization of atomic sensors, but require collective wafer-level integration of complex features. In many applications-including magnetometers, gyroscopes, magneto-optical traps, and fluorescence imaging-multiple optical accesses are needed to enhance performance. Yet, achieving this without compromising manufacturability remains challenging. In this work, we present a wafer-level fabrication approach that enables three orthogonal optical pathways in microfabricated alkali vapor cells, using fully scalable and collective processes. Our method relies on the thermal reflow of glass preforms, shaped by laser-assisted etching (LAE) and bonded between silicon frames. The relatively low surface roughness produced by LAE allows for effective reflow, which further smooths the surfaces without significantly compromising the optical planarity of the windows. This process results in multi-axis vapor cells featuring embedded, optics-grade lateral windows. We evaluate the device performance through both single-beam and dual-beam atomic magnetometry measurements. Magnetic sensitivities better than 200 fT Hz − 1 are demonstrated along each of the three orthogonal axes, confirming the potential of the approach for tri-axis magnetic field sensing at sub-picotesla resolution. This fabrication strategy opens new perspectives for versatile, high-performance atomic sensors, fully compatible with wafer-level integration and mass production.
Existing microfabricated atomic vapor cells have only one optical channel, which is insufficient for supporting the multiple orthogonal beams required by atomic devices. In this study, we present a novel wafer-level manufacturing process for fabricating multi-optical-channel atomic vapor cells and an innovative method for batch processing the inner sidewalls of millimeter glass holes to meet optical channel requirements. Surface characterization and transmittance tests demonstrate that the processed inner sidewalls satisfy the criteria for an optical channel. In addition, the construction of an integrated processing platform enables multilayer non-isothermal anode bonding, the filling of inert gases, and the recovery and recycling of noble gases. Measurements of the absorption spectra and free-induction decay signals of xenon-129 (129Xe) and xenon-131 (131Xe) under different pump-probe schemes demonstrate the suitability of our vapor cell for use in atomic devices including atomic gyroscopes, dual-beam atomic magnetometers, and other optical/atomic devices. The proposed micromolding technology has broad application prospects in the field of optical-device processing.
We describe the fabrication of chip-sized alkali atom vapor cells using silicon micromachining and anodic bonding technology. Such cells may find use in highly miniaturized atomic frequency references or magnetometers. The cells consist of cavities etched in silicon, with internal volumes as small as 1 mm3. Two techniques for introducing cesium and a buffer gas into the cells are described: one based on chemical reaction between cesium chloride and barium azide, and the other based on direct injection of elemental cesium within a controlled anaerobic environment. Cesium optical absorption and coherent population trapping resonances were measured in the cells.
Herein, a microfabricated millimeter-level vapor alkali cell with a high hermeticity is fabricated through a wet etching and single-chip anodic bonding process. The vapor cell, containing Rb and N2, was investigated in a coherent population trapping (CPT) setup for the application of a chip-scale atomic clock (CSAC). The contrast of CPT resonance is up to 1.1% within the only 1 mm length of light interacting with atom. The effects of some critical external parameters on the CPT resonance, such as laser intensity, cell temperature, and buffer gas pressure, are thoroughly studied and optimized. The improved microfabricated vapor cell also exhibited great potential for other chip-scale atomic devices.