Chip-Scale Hot Vapor Quantum Devices
Chip-scale hot vapor quantum devices are a rapidly emerging area of quantum technology that focuses on miniaturizing quantum systems for practical applications. These devices leverage hot atomic vapor, typically consisting of alkali metals like rubidium or cesium, to create and manipulate quantum states on a small, integrated chip. The "hot" vapor refers to the use of thermally excited atoms in a gaseous state, which are controlled using lasers and magnetic fields. This approach allows for the development of compact, scalable quantum systems that can perform tasks like quantum sensing, secure communication, and quantum computing. By integrating these quantum systems on a chip, we aim to reduce the size, cost, and complexity of quantum devices, making them more accessible for real-world use. This field combines expertise from quantum mechanics, optics, and nanofabrication to advance the development of practical, chip-based quantum technologies.
The following publications exemplify our recent research endeavors.
Demonstration of an Integrated Nanophotonic Chip-Scale Alkali Vapor Magnetometer Using Inverse Design
Recently, there has been growing interest in the miniaturization and integration of atomic-based quantum technologies. In addition to the obvious advantages brought by such integration in facilitating mass production, reducing the footprint, and reducing the cost, the flexibility offered by on-chip integration enables the development of new concepts and capabilities. In particular, recent advanced techniques based on computer-assisted optimization algorithms enable the development of newly engineered photonic structures with unconventional functionalities. Taking this concept further, we hereby demonstrate the design, fabrication, and experimental characterization of an integrated nanophotonic-atomic chip magnetometer based on alkali vapor with a micrometer-scale spatial resolution and a magnetic sensitivity of 700 pT/√Hz. The presented platform paves the way for future applications using integrated photonic–atomic chips, including high-spatial-resolution magnetometry, near-field vectorial imaging, magnetically induced switching, and optical isolation.
Yoel Sebbag, Talker, Eliran , Naiman, Alex , Barash, Yefim , and Levy, Uriel . 2021. “Demonstration Of An Integrated Nanophotonic Chip-Scale Alkali Vapor Magnetometer Using Inverse Design”. Light: Science & Applications, 10, Pp. 54.
Atomic Spectroscopy and Laser Frequency Stabilization with Scalable Micrometer and Sub-Micrometer Vapor Cells
We report on the atomic spectroscopy and laser frequency stabilization using a new type of a miniaturized glass vapor cell with a scalable thickness varying from 500 nm up to 8 μm. The cell is fabricated by lithography and etching techniques in a Pyrex glass substrate, followed by anodic bonding. It is filled with rubidium vapor using a distillation procedure. This simple and cost-effective fabrication method provides an attractive and compact solution for atomic cells, with applications in quantum metrology, sensing, communication, and light-vapor manipulations at the subwavelength scale. Using the fabricated cell, we have performed fluorescence and transmission spectroscopy of the Rubidium D2 line and observed sub-Doppler broadened lines. As an example, for a potential application, we have used the fabricated cell to demonstrate the stabilization of a 780 nm diode laser to the level about 10−10 in fractional frequency.
Eliran Talker, Zektzer, Roy , Barash, Yefim , Mazurski, Noa , and Levy, Uriel . 2020. “Atomic Spectroscopy And Laser Frequency Stabilization With Scalable Micrometer And Sub-Micrometer Vapor Cells”. Journal Of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 38, 5, Pp. 050601.
Nanoscale Atomic Suspended Waveguides for Improved Vapour Coherence Times and Optical Frequency Referencing
There has recently been growing interest in integrating and miniaturizing vapour cells to reduce cost, size and power consumption. Hereby we provide a new paradigm in chip-scale-integrated vapour cells by experimentally demonstrating the nanoatomic suspended waveguide, which introduces a nanoscale silicon nitride waveguide suspended in rubidium vapour. By doing so, the properties of the optical modes and the light–vapour interactions are controlled by the waveguide dimensions and can be tailored precisely for specific applications. Compared with previously published atomic cladded waveguides, our new device allows for a substantial reduction of Doppler and transit time broadening and improves the vapour coherence time. Furthermore, it practically eliminates the van der Waals shift and drastically reduces the light shift by two orders of magnitude. We have shown the usefulness of the device as a frequency reference with instability below 50 kHz. The demonstrated approach could also be used for other diverse applications that benefit from accurate and precise light–vapour applications, for example, magnetometry, quantum storage, atomic clocks, high-spatial-resolution field sensors and all-optical switching.
Roy Zektzer, Mazurski, Noa , Barash, Yefim , and Levy, Uriel . 2021. “Nanoscale Atomic Suspended Waveguides For Improved Vapour Coherence Times And Optical Frequency Referencing”. Nature Photonics, 15, 10, Pp. 772-779.
Download: s41566-021-00853-4_1.pdf