Description du projet
Une nouvelle danse entre atomes et lumière pour des capteurs atomiques innovants
Les capteurs atomiques très sensibles et précis revêtent une importance croissante pour les mesures effectuées dans des domaines allant de la biomédecine à l’exploration spatiale, mais ils sont hélas très coûteux. Leur principe consiste à isoler et à «stabiliser» des atomes dans un état bien défini, à les modifier à l’aide d’un certain champ et à mesurer l’état modifié de l’atome pour déterminer l’effet du champ. Nombre d’entre eux reposent sur les interactions entre la lumière et la matière, en utilisant des ondes électromagnétiques produites par des lasers pour refroidir, stabiliser et perturber les atomes. Le projet CRYST^3, financé par l’UE, enferme hermétiquement les atomes dans une fibre optique microstructurée (cristal photonique), ce qui réduit la taille, le coût et la fragilité du capteur tout en ouvrant la porte à de nouveaux phénomènes.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringfibers
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsfibre optics
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinateur
40126 Bologna
Italie