Projektbeschreibung
Neuer Tanz zwischen Atomen und Licht ergibt innovative Atomsensoren
Für Messungen in der Biomedizin, Weltraumforschung und in vielen anderen Bereichen werden hochempfindliche und genaue Atomsensoren immer dringender gebraucht – jedoch sind sie sehr teuer. Das Prinzip besteht darin, Atome in einem wohldefinierten Zustand zu isolieren und zu „stabilisieren“, diesen mit einem entsprechenden Feld zu verändern und den veränderten Zustand des Atoms zu messen, um die Wirkung des Feldes zu ermitteln. Viele Varianten beruhen auf der Wechselwirkung von Licht und Materie, wobei von Lasern erzeugte elektromagnetische Wellen zur Kühlung, Stabilisierung und Störung der Atome eingesetzt werden. Das EU-finanzierte Projekt CRYST^3 schließt die Atome hermetisch in einer mikrostrukturierten optischen Faser (aus photonischem Kristall) ein, wodurch Größe, Kosten und Zerbrechlichkeit des Sensors reduziert und gleichzeitig die Türen zu neuartigen Phänomenen geöffnet werden.
Ziel
All automated systems require sensing of the surrounding environment. The rising relevance of artificial intelligence in society demands sensors that are accurate, light-weighted, cheap and robust. Among the best laboratory sensors - in a broad sense including clocks, accelerometers, gyroscopes…- , those based on individual atoms stand out for their phenomenal stability and accuracy, but most are bulky and fragile, nearly all are expensive.
CRYST3 envisions a future technology where the core element, the sensor head containing the atoms, is greatly reduced in size and cost, and made more robust and more suitable for industrialization. The project will deliver the seminal contribution of a novel material where individual alkali atoms at microkelvin temperatures are encapsulated in the hollow core of a photonic crystal optical fiber, fully functionalized, hermetically sealed and integrated with light sources.
In this novel material, we expect novel physical phenomena: atoms acquire long-range interactions that are mediated by the light field and tailored through the design of the fiber; spontaneous spatial order of the atoms, akin to crystallization, emerge; light is scattered by the atoms in a collective manner that results in superradiant emission.
CRYST3 will generate the first prototype of the novel material, fully operational and customized, from numerical design, manufacturing, post-processing and testing, to industrialization assessment by a leading photonic company. The technological advancements will be intertwined with theoretical analysis and experimental demonstrations of novel loading, trapping and cooling techniques to create a large sample of ultracold atoms in a hollow-core fiber, which will serve as the platform for the scientific breakthroughs of: (1) cooling the atoms inside the fiber, (2) observing their emergent self-ordering and (3) detecting the superradiant properties of the emitted light.
Wissenschaftliches Gebiet
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringfibers
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsfibre optics
Schlüsselbegriffe
Programm/Programme
Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung
Andere Projekte für diesen Aufruf anzeigenUnterauftrag
H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Finanzierungsplan
RIA - Research and Innovation actionKoordinator
40126 Bologna
Italien