Scientific Reports (Mar 2017)

Grating chips for quantum technologies

  • James P. McGilligan,
  • Paul F. Griffin,
  • Rachel Elvin,
  • Stuart J. Ingleby,
  • Erling Riis,
  • Aidan S. Arnold

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-00254-0
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 7

Abstract

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Abstract We have laser cooled 3 × 106 87Rb atoms to 3 μK in a micro-fabricated grating magneto-optical trap (GMOT), enabling future mass-deployment in highly accurate compact quantum sensors. We magnetically trap the atoms, and use Larmor spin precession for magnetic sensing in the vicinity of the atomic sample. Finally, we demonstrate an array of magneto-optical traps with a single laser beam, which will be utilised for future cold atom gradiometry.