Descrizione del progetto
Una nuova danza tra atomi e luce supporta sensori atomici innovativi
I sensori atomici altamente sensibili e precisi sono sempre più rilevanti per quanto riguarda le misurazioni in campi che vanno dalla biomedicina all’esplorazione dello spazio, ma sono molto costosi. Il principio è isolare e «stabilizzare» gli atomi in uno stato ben definito, alterarli con un campo di un certo tipo e misurarne lo stato alterato per determinare l’effetto del campo. Solitamente ci si affida alle interazioni tra luce e materia, utilizzando onde elettromagnetiche prodotte dai laser per raffreddare, stabilizzare e perturbare gli atomi. Il progetto CRYST^3, finanziato dall’UE, sta sigillando ermeticamente gli atomi in una fibra ottica microstrutturata (cristallo fotonico), riducendo dimensioni, costi e fragilità del sensore, aprendo così le porte a nuovi fenomeni.
Obiettivo
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.
Campo scientifico
- natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesartificial intelligence
- engineering and technologymaterials engineeringfibers
- engineering and technologyelectrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineeringelectronic engineeringsensors
- natural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsfibre optics
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2019-2020-01
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
40126 Bologna
Italia