Cascaded collimator for atomic beams traveling in planar silicon devices

Abstract

Micro- and increasingly, nano-fabrication have enabled the miniaturization of atomic devices, from vapor cells to atom chips for Bose-Einstein condensation. Here we present microfabricated planar devices for thermal atomic beams. Etched microchannels were used to create highly collimated, continuous rubidium atom beams traveling parallel to a silicon wafer surface. Precise, lithographic definition of the guiding channels allowed for shaping and tailoring the velocity distributions in ways not possible using conventional machining. Multiple miniature beams with individually prescribed geometries were created, including collimated, focusing and diverging outputs. A “cascaded” collimator was realized with 40 times greater purity than conventional collimators. These localized, miniature atom beam sources can be a valuable resource for a number of quantum technologies, including atom interferometers, clocks, Rydberg atoms, and hybrid atom-nanophotonic systems, as well as enabling controlled studies of atom-surface interactions at the nanometer scale.

Reservoir optics with exciton-polariton condensates

“…Indeed, the anisotropic shape of the lenses and their ability to focus (concentrate) polariton condensates puts them in a unique position to operate as directional nonlinear el-ements for information processing in the same spirit as planar optical transistors. Our findings are also relevant to atomtronics [54,55] where arbitrary all-optical control over the atom's potential landscape is possible [56].…”

Reservoir optics with exciton-polariton condensates

“…The possible reservoir devices and their applications are not limited by the examples we present in this paper, and we hope this work will stimulate the theoretical and experimental application of reservoir optics in polariton condensates. Our findings are also relevant to atomtronics [49,50] where arbitrary all-optical control over the atom's potential landscape is possible [51].…”

Stand-alone vacuum cell for compact ultracold quantum technologies

“…The vacuum cell's 25 × 4.0 × 3.2 cm 3 volume could be substantially reduced if the redundant ion pump is removed. This affordable vacuum cell with no active pumping, ≈ 10 −6 mbar pressures and projected helium-limited lifetime of several years will be enhanced in future via a new generation of 'cleaner' atomic reservoirs [34][35][36].…”