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Completed TRL 1 (started at 1, targeting 2)
We propose a three-year program to build an advanced laser cooling test bed to enable the Goddard Quantum Engineering and Sensing Technology (QuEST) Laboratory to develop the architecture for ultra-cold, high-atom number cesium (Cs) sources. The ability to efficiently laser cool Cs atoms to temperatures <1 nK with 100 million atoms in less than 1 second is a critical technological requirement for the next generation gravity gradiometry mission. In this proposal, GSFC physicists and engineers will build a COTS, bench-scale system to test and evaluate the cold-atom laser and optical sub-systems and empirically determine the sensitivity and noise sources for an eventual science grade gravity gradient instrument.
Quantum sensors based on laser-cooled atoms are at the core of an emerging class of ultra-sensitive inertial and gravitational sensors. These sensors have promising applications across the spectrum of aerospace and remote sensing technologies, including precision navigation and timing in GPS denied environments, ultra-precise time keeping and metrology, quantum memories and gravity mapping. A key technological challenge in developing robust, space-qualified cold atom systems is the physics architecture and systems maturation of a high-brightness source of ultracold atoms. Advancing the technology maturity level of an ultra-cold Cs source will place GSFC in prime position to be selected to lead NASA’s quantum-enabled future gravity mission.
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