Descripción del proyecto
Un nuevo baile de átomos y luz en pro de unos sensores atómicos innovadores
Los sensores atómicos de alta sensibilidad y precisión son cada vez más relevantes para las mediciones en campos que van desde la biomedicina hasta la exploración espacial, pero son muy caros. El principio consiste en aislar y «estabilizar» los átomos en algún estado bien definido, alterarlo con un campo de algún tipo y medir el estado alterado del átomo para determinar el efecto del campo. Muchos se basan en las interacciones de la luz y la materia y utilizan las ondas electromagnéticas producidas por láseres para enfriar, estabilizar y perturbar los átomos. El proyecto CRYST^3, financiado con fondos europeos, sella herméticamente los átomos en una fibra óptica microestructurada (cristal fotónico), lo que reduce el tamaño, el coste y la fragilidad del sensor, al tiempo que abre la puerta a nuevos fenómenos.
Objetivo
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.
Ámbito científico
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringfibers
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsfibre optics
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Régimen de financiación
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinador
40126 Bologna
Italia