Microwave Atom Chip Traps for Atom Interferometry

用于原子干涉测量的微波原子芯片陷阱

• 批准号: 2308767
• 负责人: Seth Aubin
• 金额: $ 76.87万
• 依托单位: College of William and Mary
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-01 至 2026-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2308767&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Microwave; Atom; Chip; Traps; Interferometry

This interdisciplinary project will design, construct, and characterize atom interferometers based on ultracold trapped atoms on a microwave atom chip. Atom interferometers are the most sensitive force measuring devices ever constructed. Notably, they are particularly well suited for precision measurements and detection of electric and magnetic fields, gravity, and inertial forces, such as accelerations and rotations. Applications of atom interferometers include inertial navigation in a GPS-denied environment, remote sensing of underground and underwater structures, measuring atom-surface forces, and searching for deviations of the gravitational force from the inverse square law. While most atom interferometers operate with freely propagating atoms, one of the main scientific goals of this project is to develop and evaluate atom interferometers based on atoms trapped on an atom chip device, ideal for building a compact, fieldable sensor. Furthermore, the project will control these atoms using AC Zeeman potentials (based on rapidly oscillating magnetic fields) a novel and little explored quantum control mechanism for applying forces on atoms using microwave fields generated in the vicinity of an atom chip. Graduate and undergraduate student researchers will be trained in atom interferometry, ultracold atom technologies, microwave engineering, and micro-fabrication techniques, as well as in the broadly enabling sciences of atomic and optical physics. This interdisciplinary project is a collaborative effort between ultracold quantum physicists at William & Mary and microfabrication engineers at Virginia Commonwealth University. More specifically, this project will construct ultracold trapped atom interferometers that are based on microwave AC Zeeman traps and potentials generated by a microwave atom chip. The research uses an interdisciplinary approach that combines materials science advances, microfabrication, and microwave engineering to fundamentally enhance spin-specific quantum control of ultracold atoms for trapping and interferometry. A major objective of this project is the microfabrication of a microwave atom chip: The chip uses a novel thin substrate of aluminum nitride, which has a large dielectric constant and high thermal conductivity, for generating strong microwave near fields. Furthermore, AC Zeeman potentials offer a transformational mechanism for spin-specific manipulation of ultracold atoms, and a major thrust of the project is to implement and study atom chip-based microwave AC Zeeman traps and evaluate their suitability for spin-dependent atom interferometry. Notably, the project will study the stability of trapped atomic spin states, the smoothness of the trapping potential, the application of additional microwave and radio-frequency dressing fields for sculpting complex potentials, and the viability of more compact chip structures. Finally, the project will investigate the use of microwave lattices for enhanced trapping and interferometry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个跨学科项目将根据微波原子芯片上的超低原子设计，构建和表征原子干涉仪。原子干涉仪是有史以来最敏感的力量测量设备。值得注意的是，它们特别适合于精确测量和检测电场，重力和惯性力，例如加速度和旋转。原子干涉仪的应用包括在GPS污染环境中的惯性导航，地下和水下结构的遥感，测量原子表面力，以及寻找与平方法逆平方法的重力偏差。尽管大多数原子干涉仪可以自由传播原子运行，但该项目的主要科学目标之一是基于被困在原子芯片设备上的原子开发和评估原子干涉仪，非常适合构建紧凑的，可实地的传感器。此外，该项目将使用AC Zeeman电位（基于迅速振荡的磁场）来控制这些原子，这是一种新颖而探索的量子控制机制，用于使用原子芯片附近生成的微波磁场在原子上施加力。研究生和本科生研究人员将接受原子干涉测量，超速原子技术，微波工程和微型制作技术的培训，以及在广泛的原子和光学物理学的科学方面。这个跨学科项目是William＆Mary的Ultrocold量子物理学家与弗吉尼亚联邦大学的微加工工程师之间的合作努力。更具体地说，该项目将构建基于微波AC Zeeman陷阱和微波原子芯片产生的电势的超低原子干涉仪。该研究采用跨学科方法，将材料科学进步，微分化和微波工程结合起来，从根本上增强对超电原子的自旋特异性量子控制，以捕获和干涉法。该项目的一个主要目的是微波原子芯片的微加工：芯片使用一种新型的硝基铝薄基板，该基材具有较大的介电常数和高热导率，以产生近乎田间的强微波炉。此外，AC Zeeman电位提供了一种用于自旋特异性操纵超低原子的转化机制，该项目的主要功能是实施和研究基于原子芯片的微波AC Zeeman陷阱，并评估其对自旋依赖性原子干涉仪的适用性。值得注意的是，该项目将研究被困原子自旋状态的稳定性，捕获电位的平滑度，额外的微波炉和射频敷料场的应用，以雕刻复杂的电位，以及更紧凑的芯片结构的可行性。最后，该项目将调查使用微波晶格来增强陷阱和干涉法。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛影响的评估标准通过评估来支持的。