High-Flux Ultracold-Atom Chip Interferometers

ColdQuanta's ultimate objective is to produce a compact, turnkey, ultracold-atom system specifically designed for performing interferometry with Bose-Einstein condensates. To produce ultracold-atom-based devices (e.g. inertial sensors, magnetometers, clocks, etc.) that can compete with existing technologies, higher fluxes and/or faster production rates will be needed over current state-of-the-art techniques. In this Phase I work effort, ColdQuanta will address this need for greater fluxes by investigating two approaches toward developing high-flux compact BEC-producing systems. The first approach targets systems that utilize ColdQuanta's RuBECi vacuum cell and its proven success at the heart of the world's smallest, fastest-producing, ultracold atom systems. Using numerical optimization, we will improve the speed and efficiency (i.e. reduce atom loss) of several key production steps, including faster trap loading from a cold-atom source and more efficient atom transfer between magnetic traps. In the second, higher payoff approach, we will investigate implementation of assembly-line production of BECs using vacuum cell construction that allows each stage of production to occur simultaneously throughout a series of interconnected vacuum chambers. The resulting system would create ultracold atoms quasi-continuously and increase production rates by virtually eliminating dead time between sequential operating cycles.

The ultracold matter system developed in this work has the potential to dramatically enhance NASA's capabilities in numerous areas. These include: Inertial Sensing – compared to their light-based counterparts (e.g. fiber-optic and ring-laser gyros), ultracold-atom gyroscopes offer a phenomenal eleven orders of magnitude greater sensitivity to rotation, for equal geometries and particle fluxes. Similar improvements in accelerometry and gravimetry are also possible. Timekeeping – freezing the motion of atoms significantly improves accuracy, so much so that the next generation of state-of-the-art atomic clocks (with accuracies approaching 1 part in 1018) will rely on ultracold trapped atoms. Field Sensing – cold and ultracold atoms offer greater sensitivities for magnetic-field sensing compared to SQUIDs and other technologies.

In addition to applications relevant to NASA, the ultracold matter system developed in this work has other commercial applications. These include: Quantum Emulating – trapped, ultracold atoms form a pristine, defect-free system that is ideal for studying condensed matter systems, simulating multibody quantum systems, and implementing quantum computers and quantum information algorithms. Atomtronics – Precise control of ultracold atoms allows them to be engineered into useful devices that rely on the flow of coherent particles (as opposed to incoherent particles, as is the case in electricity).

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

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