DPB Thesis Award: Chip-scale atomic beam production, collimation, and its applications

Atomic beams are a key technology for realizing navigation-grade timekeeping and inertial sensing instruments. In this thesis, we demonstrate the use of an array of silicon microchannels to create highly collimated, continuous rubidium atom beams. This allows for the customization of atomic beam pattern and the tailoring of its transverse velocity distribution, which is unachievable using conventional methods, thus enabling precise and targeted delivery of neutral atoms on-chip. Furthermore, we enhance beam brightness using blue-detuned optical molasses and characterize the transversely cooled atomic beams using a two-photon Doppler Raman spectroscopy method. Finally, we present a Monte Carlo simulation-assisted design of a fully chip-scale atomic beam system that contains an atom vapor reservoir and atomic beam drift region bridged by thin silicon microchannels for differential pumping. Additionally, we perform free-space Ramsey interferometry with a two-zone separation as short as 8 mm, which mimics the conditions and constraints for future implementation on this chip-scale platform to fully unleash its potential in inertial sensing and timekeeping.