A Microfabricated Chip-scale Atomic Beam System with Self-sustained Vacuum

Atomic beams are a key technology for realizing navigation grade, rack-mounted Cs atomic clocks, and offer a promising approach to realize gyroscopes based on atom interferometry. Miniaturization of atom beam technology will enable new quantum sensor architectures benefitting from foundry production and microfabrication approaches. This work presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of a centimeter-size planar atomic beam platform with a self-sustained vacuum given by graphite and non-evaporable getters. Monte Carlo simulations guide our design on atomic beam formation and vacuum maintenance. Deep reactive ion etching of silicon defines three functional areas: an atom reservoir, a microchannel array for atomic beam collimation, and a drift region for its ballistic propagation. Finally, anodic bonding hermetically seals the silicon functional and glass capping layers together. Our measured absorption and fluorescence spectra possessing narrow Doppler features indicate the ballistic transport of atomic beams in the drift region. A detailed comparison of these with Monte Carlo simulations is still in process. In addition, we have benchmarked two-zone Ramsey interferometry and transverse laser cooling to boost atomic beam brightness on a free-space apparatus for future implementation of atomic sensing protocols on this chip-scale platform.