New avenues in chip-scale quantum sensors

Liron Stern

Andrew S. Dzurak

Chandra Raman

Atomic sensors—devices that utilize individual atoms as the sensing mechanism—offer enormous prospects for high sensitivity, accuracy and immunity to environmental noise. This is because such sensors leverage quantum mechanical properties of the atom such as internal energy level splittings that do not change with time and are immune to sensor fabrication errors. While some of these sensors are now commercially available, they are still bulky instruments that must be individually assembled by hand and will not be widely disseminated in their current form. In this talk I will discuss a new architecture for quantum sensors based on miniaturized atomic beams, with applications to clocks, gyroscopes and photonic quantum devices.

J. P. McGilligan, Kevin Francis Gallacher, Paul F. Griffin +3 more

Laser cooled atoms have proven transformative for precision metrology, playing a pivotal role in state-of-the-art clocks and interferometers and having the potential to provide a step-change in our modern technological capabilities. To successfully explore their full potential, laser cooling platforms must be translated from the laboratory environment and into portable, compact quantum sensors for deployment in practical applications. This transition requires the amalgamation of a wide range of components and expertise if an unambiguously chip-scale cold atom sensor is to be realized. We present recent developments in cold-atom sensor miniaturization, focusing on key components that enable laser cooling on the chip-scale. The design, fabrication, and impact of the components on sensor scalability and performance will be discussed with an outlook to the next generation of chip-scale cold atom devices.

Ana R. Bastos, Emmanuel Zambrini Cruzeiro, M. Niehus +1 more

Dominic William Berry, Howard M. Wiseman