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AVS Quantum Science

Centralized design and production of the ultra-high vacuum and laser-stabilization systems for the AION ultra-cold strontium laboratories

Ben Stray, O. Ennis, Sam Hedges, S. Dey, Mehdi Langlois, Kai Bongs, Samuel Lellouch, Michael Holynski, B. Bostwick, Jing Chen, Z. Eyler, V. Gibson, T. L. Harte, C. C. Hsu, M. Karzazi, J. Mitchell, Noam Mouelle, Ulrich Schneider, Yijun Tang, Kimberly E. Tkalcec, Y. Zhi, K. Clarke, A. Vick, Kieran Bridges, J. P. Coleman, Gedminas Elertas, Leonie Hawkins, Sam Hindley, K. Hussain, C. J. Metelko, H. Throssell, Charles F. A. Baynham, O. L. Buchmueller, D. Evans, Richard Hobson, L. Iannizzotto-Venezze, A. Josset, Elizabeth Pasatembou, B. E. Sauer, Michael R. Tarbutt, Leonardo Badurina, Ankit Beniwal, Diego Blas, J. Carlton, John R. Ellis, Christopher McCabe, Elliot Bentine, Martin J. Booth, D. Bortoletto, Christopher J. Foot, C. M. Gómez-Monedero Castellanos, T. M. Hird, K. Hughes, A. James, A. Lowe, John March-Russell, J. Schelfhout, Ian P. J. Shipsey, D. Weatherill, D. Wood, S. Balashov, Mark G. Bason, J. Boehm, M.J.D. Courthold, M. van der Grinten, P. Majewski, A. L. Marchant, D. M. Newbold, Zhongben Pan, Z. Tam, T. Valenzuela, I. Wilmut

Published Mar 1, 2024• 6 citations
Publisher

Abstract

This paper outlines the centralized design and production of the ultra-high-vacuum sidearm and laser-stabilization systems for the AION Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories. Commissioning data on the residual gas and steady-state pressures in the sidearm chambers, on magnetic field quality, on laser stabilization, and on the loading rate for the 3D magneto-optical trap are presented. Streamlining the design and production of the sidearm and laser stabilization systems enabled the AION Collaboration to build and equip in parallel five state-of-the-art Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories within 24 months by leveraging key expertise in the collaboration. This approach could serve as a model for the development and construction of other cold atom experiments, such as atomic clock experiments and neutral atom quantum computing systems, by establishing dedicated design and production units at national laboratories.

DOI
10.1116/5.0172731

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This paper outlines the centralized design and production of the ultra-high-vacuum sidearm and laser-stabilization systems for the AION Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories. Commissioning data on the residual gas and steady-state pressures in the sidearm chambers, on magnetic field quality, on laser stabilization, and on the loading rate for the 3D magneto-optical trap are presented. Streamlining the design and production of the sidearm and laser stabilization systems enabled the AION Collaboration to build and equip in parallel five state-of-the-art Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories within 24 months by leveraging key expertise in the collaboration. This approach could serve as a model for the development and construction of other cold atom experiments, such as atomic clock experiments and neutral atom quantum computing systems, by establishing dedicated design and production units at national laboratories.
This paper outlines the centralised design and production of the Ultra-High-Vacuum sidearm and Laser-Stabilisation systems for the AION Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories. Commissioning data on the residual gas and steady-state pressures in the sidearm chambers, on magnetic field quality, on laser stabilisation, and on the loading rate for the 3D Magneto-Optical Trap are presented. Streamlining the design and production of the sidearm and laser stabilisation systems enabled the AION Collaboration to build and equip in parallel five state-of-the-art Ultra-Cold Strontium Laboratories within 24 months by leveraging key expertise in the collaboration. This approach could serve as a model for the development and construction of other cold atom experiments, such as atomic clock experiments and neutral atom quantum computing systems, by establishing dedicated design and production units at national laboratories.
This thesis describes the first steps to fulfill the main objective of our project: the development of a gravimetry system based on the continuous monitoring of Bloch oscillations performed by ultra-cold strontium atoms.The realization of this project comprises three main stages: the first stage consists in obtaining a magneto-optical trap in the broad transition of 461 nm of strontium, the second stage is the transfer to a magneto-optical trap in the narrow intercombination line of 689 nm, and finally the third stage is the monitoring of Bloch oscillations of the cloud of atoms in a ring cavity.This work details the first stage of the project, the creation of an experimental apparatus which produces ultra-cold strontium atoms in the transition of 461 nm, as well as the characterization of the cloud of atoms, temperature, size, number of atoms, etc.For this project, a new experimental apparatus has been designed and realized.It involves an ultra-high vacuum system, magnetic field sources, laser systems and optical instruments which are required for cooling, trapping and repumping strontium atoms.A novel feature is the implementation of a transversely loaded two-dimensional magneto-optical trap, which serves as a source of a cold strontium atomic beam.A loading rate of the atomic beam into a nearby three-dimensional magneto-optical trap exceeding 10 5 s -1 for the 88 Sr isotope at a moderate dispenser temperature of 600 • C are reported.The temperature of the cloud is about 4 mK and its size 0.3 mm, these characteristics suggest that the state of the atomic trap is in optimal conditions to make the transfer to the optical magneto trap in the intercombination line and thus continue with the second stage of the project.
We present a high-flux source of cold strontium atoms based on a two-dimensional magneto-optical trap (2D MOT) and a Zeeman slower. We use the source to load a 3D MOT in a separate science chamber, observing a loading rate of 4×1010 atoms/s—to our knowledge, the highest reported loading flux for strontium. To characterize the vacuum pressure in the science chamber, we load the atoms into a magnetic trap and measure a lifetime of between 8 and 24 s, depending on the oven temperature. Finally, we characterize the atom flux and velocity distributions from the oven and from the 2D MOT source, finding reasonable agreement with models in the free molecular flow regime. Our results show that it is possible to readily produce a cold strontium flux at comparable levels to those of alkali species, at oven temperatures compatible with long-term operation, and at vacuum pressures suitable for state-of-the-art quantum experiments. We make our design available at no cost to benefit researchers in the quantum community.
Long-baseline atom interferometers, such as the one to be built by the AION collaboration, require ultra-cold atomic clouds. These are produced by trapping the atoms in Magneto-Optical Traps (MOTs) using high-power, narrow-linewidth lasers. We report on the laser and optical master-slave injection locked system used to address the 1S0 - 3P1 strontium transition at 689 nm, and on the trapping of strontium atoms in a narrowband MOT. We demonstrate the quality of the injection through the characterisation of the injection lock using a novel, easy-to-assemble method which uses a double pass acousto-optic modulator (AOM) to generate and detect a heterodyne beatnote. The reported system is used to produce an atomic cloud at a temperature of 812 +/- 43 nK in a narrowband red MOT.
Long-baseline atom interferometers, such as the one to be built by the AION collaboration, require ultra-cold atomic clouds. These are produced by trapping the atoms in magneto-optical traps (MOTs) using high-power, narrow-linewidth lasers. We report on the laser and optical master–slave injection-locked system used to address the 1S0–3P1 strontium transition at 689 nm and on the trapping of strontium atoms in a narrowband MOT. We demonstrate the quality of the injection through the characterization of the injection lock using an easy-to-assemble method that uses a double-pass acousto-optic modulator to generate and detect a heterodyne beatnote. The reported system is used to produce an atomic cloud at a temperature of 812(43) nK in a narrowband red MOT.
We demonstrate direct loading of a strontium (Sr) magneto-optical trap (MOT) from a thermal atomic beam in a single-chamber vacuum system. The MOT operates without a Zeeman slower, a slowing laser, a two-dimensional MOT, or differential pumping, while the entire system is maintained in the ultra-high-vacuum regime by a single ion pump. At an oven temperature of 395 °C, the MOT captures up to 107 88Sr atoms with a loading rate of 107 atoms s-1, while sustaining a background gas pressure of 1 × 10-9 Torr. At this oven temperature, the MOT lifetime limited by collisions with background gas is ∼5s, with the atom number primarily constrained by light-assisted two-body collisions. Eliminating differential pumping and precooling stages significantly reduces the system's size, weight, and power requirements, providing a robust and practical platform for field-deployable and spaceborne optical lattice clocks, as well as a variety of other applications requiring compact ultracold atom sources.