Patent Description:
A second aspect of the present invention relates to an integrated atomic/photonic device, comprising the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect.

A third aspect of the present invention relates to an apparatus, comprising the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect and/or the integrated atomic/photonic device of the second aspect.

A fourth aspect of the present invention relates to a method for fabricating the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping and/or spin-based atomic sensing.

An atomic vapor cell, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping and/or spin-based atomic sensing, including the features defined in the preamble of claim <NUM> Is known in the prior art, i.e., a cell comprising a host substrate and defined there within a chamber for containing an atomic vapor.

That's the case of several atomic vapor cells fabricated according to different techniques, such as the MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) vapor cells based on planar Si mask etching and bonding with two glass substrates, of the conventional vapor cells made by glassblowing techniques, and of the nanostructured vapor cells made by surface laser lithography and reactive ion etching, such as that disclosed in "<NPL>).

All those vapor cells suffer from different drawbacks or limitations such as, but not only, the planar geometry of the chambers or surface microchannels, which cannot be fabricated at a desired depth and size in three dimensions, or the need of using masks or photoresists, or the lack of freedom for the selection of the host material, particularly of the need of including non-transparent walls and thus limit the locations and quantity of optical accesses enabled thereby.

In <CIT> and in <NPL>, as well as in many other works about microfabricated atomic vapor cells, a mask or a photoresist is used for generating a desired geometry by wet etching of silicon or by surface laser lithography (as in Cutler et al. These processes are usually performed on the planar surface of a middle wafer (process member in <CIT>), they need a mask or a photoresist.

In <NPL>, discloses vapor cells having several micro-channels for connecting two chambers, namely a cell containing a Rb dispenser and another chamber representing the optical pumping cell. However, the vapor cells disclosed in that document are micro-fabricated using anodic bonding and deep silicon etching.

It is therefore necessary to offer an alternative to the state of the art, which covers the gaps mentioned above, particularly by providing an atomic vapor cell, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping and/or spin-based atomic sensing, which does not have the above mentioned drawbacks and limitations.

To that end, the present invention relates, in a first aspect, to an atomic vapor cell, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping and/or spin-based atomic sensing, comprising a host substrate and defined there within a chamber for containing an atomic The atomic vapor cell in accordance with the invention is defined in claim <NUM>.

In contrast to the atomic vapor cells of the prior art, in the one proposed by the first aspect of the present invention the chamber is a buried or non-buried chamber with either planar or three-dimensional geometry, laser written in the host substrate, i.e., without the need of a mask or photoresist.

For an embodiment, the host substrate and chamber are configured and arranged to enable multiple optical access to an atomic interaction area of the chamber along at least two optical axes.

According to an embodiment, the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect of the present invention further comprises, also laser written in the host substrate, a buried or non-buried reservoir and connecting channels fluidically communicating the chamber with the reservoir, wherein the reservoir is a planar or three-dimensional reservoir.

For an implementation of that embodiment, the reservoir has at least one open end defined at a face of the host substrate and the vapor cell further comprises a sealing substrate bonded to said face of the host substrate to seal said at least one open end, wherein said at least one open end was made to remove excess material from the laser writing process therethrough and to fill the reservoir with said atomic vapor or with a source of material originating said atomic vapor.

For an embodiment, the chamber comprises at least an inlet connection to fill the same with the atomic vapor from the exterior of the atomic vapor cell, and, for a variant of that embodiment, also an outlet connection to make the atomic vapor enter the chamber through the input connection, flow through the chamber, and exit the chamber through the outlet connection.

According to an embodiment, at least the host substrate is transparent to a determined wavelength of a light beam used for a single or multiple optical access to the chamber for performing the above mentioned atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping, and/or spin-based atomic sensing.

For an implementation of that embodiment, the chamber has at least a pair of respective opposite ends adjacent to respective opposite side facets of the host substrate, so that optical access along one dimension of the chamber is enabled for a light beam entering the chamber through one of said opposite ends and exits the same through the other of said opposite ends.

For another implementation of that embodiment, for enabling at least a two pass configuration, the chamber has at least two pairs of respective opposite ends adjacent to respective opposite side facets of pairs of opposite side facets of the host substrate, so that multiple optical access along two respective transversal dimensions of the chamber is enabled for two respective light beams, each entering the chamber through one of the opposite ends of a respective pair and exits the same through the other of said opposite ends.

Still for another implementation of that embodiment, for enabling a three pass configuration, the chamber (for example, a cubic-shaped chamber) has three pairs of respective opposite ends adjacent to respective opposite side facets of pairs of opposite side facets of the host substrate, so that multiple optical access along three respective transversal dimensions of the chamber is enabled for three respective light beams, each entering the chamber through one of the opposite ends of a respective pair and exits the same through the other of said opposite ends.

For an embodiment, the reservoir and the chamber further contain a buffer gas and/or are internally treated with the addition of a diffusion barrier to prevent atomic depolarizing collisions. This treatment is, for an implementation of that embodiment, a deposition of nanolayers (one or more layers with a thickness of tens of nanometers) of a non-depolarizing material, like aluminum oxide, onto the non-buried laser written chambers.

For some embodiments, the atomic vapor cell comprises a plurality of planar or three-dimensional chambers, fabricated like the one described above, with the same or a different shape (elongate shape, prismatic shape, etc.), and/or one or more buried or non-buried laser written chambers, where non-fluidically connected to each other, or some or all of them fluidically connected with each other, depending on the embodiment.

The present invention also relates, in a second aspect, to an integrated atomic/photonic device, comprising the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect and at least one further photonic component defined or arranged on the host substrate or on a further host substrate.

According to an embodiment, the at least one further photonic component is either a planar or non-planar waveguide-based photonic component laser written in the host substrate or in the further host substrate, or placed in a slot laser written in the host substrate or in the further host substrate.

Depending in the embodiment, one or more of the following planar and/or non-planar waveguide-based photonic components are included in the integrated atomic/photonic device of the second aspect of the present invention: a linear waveguide, a waveplate waveguide, a beam splitter waveguide, and optical components like microlenses, e.g., GRIN (Gradient-Index) lenses, etc., or a combination thereof.

In a third aspect, the present invention relates to an apparatus, comprising the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect and/or the integrated atomic/photonic device of the second aspect.

According to different embodiments, the apparatus is at least one of the following apparatuses: a system for saturated absorption spectroscopy (SAS), an atomic spectroscopy/frequency reference, an atomic clock, a single-beam or two beams optically-pumped-magnetometer, a magnetic microscope, a spin-based atomic sensor, and an atomic gyroscope.

For an embodiment, the apparatus of the third aspect of the present invention further comprises optical fibres joint/glued to the vapor cell or to the atomic/photonic device so that laser light of one or multiple laser beams can input through at least one of said optical fibres, propagate through the chamber, and then output therefrom, after atomic interaction, though at least one other of said optical fibres.

The present invention also relates, in a fourth aspect, to a method for fabricating an atomic vapor cell, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping, and/or spin-based atomic sensing, comprising providing a host substrate and defining there within a chamber (or a plurality of chambers) for containing an atomic vapor, wherein the method comprises laser writing the chamber in the host substrate without the need of a mask or photoresist, in the form of a buried or non-buried chamber with either planar or three-dimensional geometry, and filling said atomic vapor cell with said atomic vapor or with a source of material originating the atomic vapor.

The method of the fourth aspect of the present invention is adapted, for an embodiment, to fabricate the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect of the present invention.

According to an embodiment, the method of the fourth aspect of the present invention further comprises:.

For an alternative embodiment, the method of the fourth aspect of the present invention comprises providing the chamber with at least an inlet connection, and filling the same with the atomic vapor from the exterior of the atomic vapor cell, and, for a variant of that embodiment, also with an outlet connection, and making the atomic vapor enter the chamber through the input connection, flow through the chamber, and exit the chamber through the outlet connection.

The present invention has several applications, such as the ones listed below in a non-exclusive manner:.

In the following some preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the enclosed figures. They are provided only for illustration purposes without however limiting the scope of the invention. In accordance with common practice, the components in the figures are drawn to emphasize specific features and they are not drawn to the right scale.

<FIG> illustrates the design of the atomic vapor cell of the first aspect of the present invention, i.e., a laser-written-vapor-cell (LWVC) and its comprised components, along different building blocks or stages of its fabrication according to the method of the fourth aspect, for two different embodiments: an embodiment represented by the three top views and another embodiment represented by the three bottom views.

As shown in the figure, for both embodiments, the atomic vapor cell comprises a chamber <NUM>, a reservoir <NUM> and connecting channels <NUM> which are directly-written by laser-irradiation (with laser source L, represented in the left-top view) on a solid host material or substrate <NUM> in a non-planar geometry. The chamber <NUM>, the reservoir <NUM> and the connecting channels <NUM> are empty since the substrate material is removed in a second step after irradiation, for example through immersion in a chemical etchant solution.

The solid host substrate <NUM> is made of a transparent material like fused silica or borofloat in a preferred embodiment, but it is made of a different material, such as silicon nitride, ceramics, crystals, and polymers, in other embodiments. While, for the illustrated embodiments, the chamber <NUM> and the connecting channels <NUM> are completely buried within the host material, the reservoir <NUM> reaches an open facet or open end, in order to remove material, e.g., with a chemical etchant, and to fill the cell. For the embodiment of the top three views of <FIG>, the open end of the reservoir <NUM> is located at the bottom face of the host substrate <NUM>, while for the embodiment of the three bottom views of <FIG>, the open end of the reservoir 103b is located at the top face of the host substrate <NUM>, where the terms "bottom" and "top" have been used referring to the depicted positions, but they could, for example, be substituted by "top" and "bottom", respectively, if the cell was depicted upside down.

In one embodiment, such as that of the three top views of <FIG>, the reservoir <NUM> is at a different depth with respect to the chamber <NUM>, while, for another embodiment, such as that of the three bottom views of <FIG>, the reservoir 103b is at a side of the chamber <NUM>.

In an embodiment, not shown in the figures, chamber <NUM>, connecting channels <NUM> and reservoir <NUM> are laser written in a planar non-buried configuration on the top surface of the solid host substrate <NUM>.

The cell is then filled with a source of evaporable material <NUM> that is a solid state dispenser in one embodiment, a liquid solution containing alkali metal, e.g., alkali-metal azide in another embodiment, and pure alkali metal in another embodiment. Particularly, for the two embodiments shown in <FIG>, the reservoir <NUM>, 103b is filled with the evaporable material <NUM> through its respective open end, and the evaporable material <NUM> reaches the chamber <NUM> by diffusion, as shown by the cloud of points represented in the right, top and bottom, views of <FIG>.

After filling, the host substrate <NUM> is then bonded with a sealing substrate <NUM>, 105b, of the same material of the host substrate <NUM> or of a different material, depending on the embodiment, to close the reservoir <NUM>, 103b from the bottom with sealing substrate <NUM> or from the top with sealing substrate 105b of the cell, where, as mentioned above, "bottom" and "top" refer to the depicted positions.

For the illustrated embodiments, sealing substrate <NUM> covers the whole bottom face of the host substrate <NUM>, while sealing substrate 105b is disc-shaped and covers only the open end of the reservoir 103b. For modifications of those embodiments, any of those sealing substrates <NUM>, 105b has a different shape than that illustrated and/or cover only the open end of the reservoir <NUM>, 103b, or partly or completely the face of the host substrate <NUM> reached by that open end.

In one embodiment the bonding of the sealing substrate <NUM>, 105b occurs with UV curing glue, while in another embodiment the bonding consists in glass-to-glass bonding, e.g., optical contact bonding, or glass-silicon-glass bonding.

The evaporable material or compound <NUM> contains alkali metals like rubidium, cesium, or potassium, in natural abundance, in an embodiment, or pure isotopes in another embodiment. These are released with an activation process after bonding, like UV reaction in one embodiment, or laser activation in another embodiment.

For some embodiments, the filling of the dispenser <NUM> occurs in vacuum chambers or with addition of noble gases as buffer gas (with pressures higher than <NUM> Torr) to prevent atomic depolarizing collisions, like nitrogen in one embodiment or mixture of nitrogen and argon in another embodiment, or other noble gases like <NUM>He and <NUM>Xe in another embodiment, depending on the sensing and spectroscopy application.

For an embodiment, there is not a reservoir, but the atomic vapor or compound continuously diffuses through inlet and outlet connections, like in lab-on-chip microfluidics, into the written chamber(s) <NUM>, which are heated at temperature above <NUM> C.

In a further embodiment, the reservoir <NUM>, 103b is connected to a glass system and filled with glassblowing techniques before sealing.

In <FIG>, different views of the LWVC of the present invention are shown, illustrating LWVCs exemplary dimensions, for different embodiments. Particularly, an embodiment is represented by the three top views of the figure, another embodiment by the two left, middle and bottom, views of the figure, and two further embodiments by the middle and right bottom views of the figure.

The direct laser-writing has 3D versatility so the chamber/channel <NUM> is, for an embodiment, buried within the host at depth <NUM>/108b, i.e., distanced from the top facet of the host material substrate <NUM> (according to the depicted position), ranging from mm down to ten nanometres, depending on the application. For example, if a sample is placed on the top of the cell, the depth <NUM>, 108b is, for an embodiment, the stand-off distance of the atomic sensor from a sample and it is, for an embodiment, reduced down to the nanometre scale. If laser light propagates along the chamber/channel <NUM>, the distance from the cell wall <NUM>/109b is, for an embodiment, minimized to reduce optical losses.

The side facets are, for an embodiment, further polished to minimize transmission losses. The reservoir <NUM>/103b can have a diameter <NUM>, 115b as small as the evaporable source, and a height <NUM> as short as the same. For example, commercial alkali metal dispensers (SAES Getters) have a diameter of <NUM> and thickness of <NUM> micron. However, micron-sized dispensers are, for an embodiment, produced so that the reservoir <NUM>, 103b can have accordingly micron-sized diameter and height.

Each of the outer dimensions <NUM>, <NUM> of the host substrate <NUM> can vary from <NUM> in one embodiment to sub-mm size in another embodiment, depending on the application. The sealing substrate <NUM>/105b can also have a thickness <NUM>, 113b ranging from a few mm (where "few" means at least <NUM>) down to tens or hundreds micron. The connecting channels <NUM> can have a cross section down to tens of micron and variable length <NUM> and shape to connect reservoir <NUM>, 103b and chamber <NUM>.

The chamber <NUM> is a squared or cylindrical channel in two different embodiments, although any other kind of non-planar shape is also possible, for other embodiments. Its cross section <NUM>, 110b is <NUM> x <NUM> in one embodiment or having sub-mm dimension in another embodiment, e.g., <NUM> micron x <NUM> micron, where chamber(s) <NUM> are then microchannels.

In another embodiment, the chamber 102b is a cubic or cylindrical cavity with width 114b and thickness of few mm (where "few" means at least <NUM>), similarly to MEMS cells, to increase the atomic interaction volume and to reduce depolarizing collisions by the walls.

A laser beam can then be collimated or focused into the microchannel/chamber <NUM>, 102b, depending on its size and length. The length <NUM> is <NUM> in one preferred embodiment, but the length 114b is reduced to a mm side in another embodiment.

In another embodiment with two or three optical accesses to the atomic interaction area, the physics chamber, i.e., the chamber <NUM>, can actually be squared or cubic depending on double or triple optical access (not shown). The distance between the chamber <NUM> and the host side facet <NUM>/116b, as well as the outer host substrate's dimension <NUM> and 107b is, for an embodiment, reduced to match reservoir <NUM>, 103b and chamber <NUM>, 102b dimensions to minimize the host substrate <NUM> total volume.

<FIG> schematically illustrates the device of the second aspect of the present invention, also called below LWVC device, for different embodiments, for free space probing and integration of LWVCs with photonic waveguides, optical components, fibres and, more generally, with any waveguide-based photonic structure in non-planar geometry.

The LWVC is, for an embodiment, used with laser light in free space, as shown in the left view of <FIG> where a laser beam <NUM> propagates along the channel/chamber <NUM> in the LWVC.

The LWVC can otherwise be integrated with photonic waveguides <NUM> and <NUM> laser-written with the same technique on a separated host material in one embodiment, and in the same host substrate <NUM> of the LWVC in another embodiment. The input laser-written waveguide <NUM> is, for an embodiment, a polarization rotator that can polarize the input light beam circularly or linearly.

In an embodiment, the waveguide output directly propagates through the chamber <NUM> of the LWVC. In a preferred embodiment, the mode of the input waveguide <NUM> is, for an embodiment, expanded and collimated through an optical element <NUM> to the physics channel or chamber <NUM>.

The optical element <NUM> is, for an embodiment, for example, a GRIN lens bonded or placed in an appropriate laser-written empty slot in one embodiment. In another embodiment it is an integrated optical element, like an apodized grating structure that can expand the sub-micron optical mode of the input waveguide to a collimated beam with larger width from tens of micron to few mm (where "few" means at least <NUM>), in order to obtain an interaction volume, suitable for precision atomic spectroscopy and sensing.

After atomic interaction, laser output is refocused into an output waveguide <NUM> through a second integrated element <NUM> included in the device of the second aspect of the present invention, for the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, middle view.

The input and output optical waveguides <NUM>/<NUM> are connected to optical fibres <NUM>/<NUM> to couple light from external sources into the LWVC device, for the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, middle view.

Polarization is also controlled before the input fibre <NUM> in another embodiment. In a further embodiment, optical fibres are connected to the input/output waveguides, while in one other embodiment the fibres <NUM>/<NUM> are connected or glued directly to the corresponding optical element <NUM>/<NUM>.

Other optical components, like polarizers, half and quarter waveplates, interference filters, dichroic or total reflection mirrors are integrated into device, for some embodiments. In this way the desired polarization is, for an embodiment, generated in the integrated device, depending on the particular application.

The fibres are single-mode in an embodiment or multi-mode in another embodiment. In an embodiment, for instance for the saturated-absorption-spectroscopy application, the output fibre <NUM> is a fiberized mirror that reflects light back after atomic interaction, so that light is coupled back into the same input fibre <NUM> after double pass atomic interaction.

In a gradiometer configuration, for the embodiment illustrated in <FIG>, right view, at least a second parallel sensing channel/chamber <NUM> is laser-written with distance (d), which is the gradiometer baseline, from the other sensing channel/chamber <NUM>. This baseline can vary between ten micron in an embodiment to cm in another embodiment. Microchannels <NUM> connect the reservoir <NUM> and the two or multiple chambers <NUM>. Light is, for an embodiment, coupled through input fibres into waveguides and the optical mode expanded, and collimated by an element like <NUM>. The gradiometer mode is meant to have, in addition, a copy of the same optical arrangement, including waveguides <NUM>/<NUM>, optical elements <NUM>/<NUM> and optical fibres <NUM>/<NUM>.

<FIG> illustrates, for an embodiment, an experimental setup of the LWVC of the present invention.

Specifically, <FIG> shows a photography of the LWVC used for the experiment, which has been filled with a solid-state Rb dispenser (SAES getters) and the host substrate <NUM> bonded to a sealing substrate <NUM> with UV curing glue, and <FIG> a 3D sketch of the LWVC showing the channel/chamber <NUM> and reservoir <NUM>, and also the bonded thin sealing substrate <NUM>.

<FIG> shows absorption spectrum in the weak-probe limit and <FIG> normalized absorption spectra (transmission) at temperatures of T = <NUM> (top waveform), T= <NUM> (middle waveform) and T= <NUM> (bottom waveform). The spectrum of <FIG> is fitted with a Voigt profile and a pressure-induced broadening of about <NUM> is obtained, corresponding to a N2 residual pressure of <NUM> Torr. This experimental condition, where buffer-gas broadening is between the <NUM> natural linewidth and the <NUM> Doppler broadening, is suitable to test the LWVC device for sub-Doppler saturated spectroscopy and for atomic sensing based on atomic coherence time like optical magnetometry.

Different applications of the present invention are described below, for different embodiments embodying different apparatuses, with reference to <FIG>.

<FIG> illustrates an experimental apparatus to perform either saturated absorption spectroscopy (SAS) (top view), suitable for laser frequency stabilization, or single-beam optical magnetometry (bottom view). The LWVC is enclosed in a magnetooptical setup, which consists of a single layer of magnetic shielding and coils to generate dc and gradient fields. A ceramic oven surrounds the LWVC and is heated trough flexible Kapton heaters, while the temperature is stabilized within <NUM> C through a thermocouple sensor and a temperature controller. A laser beam is fibre coupled and the power is adjusted through a half-waveplate and a polarizing beam splitter, which also ensures linear polarization of the reflected beam reaching the LWVC for atomic interaction. For saturated absorption spectroscopy (SAS) and optical magnetometry measurements, the optical components depicted in <FIG> and described below are used.

Specifically, the LWVC stands within a layer of µ-metal shielding and a system of concentric coils. The laser beam is coupled to a fibre collimator, the power reaching the LWVC is adjusted with a half-wave-plate HWP and a polarizing beam-splitter PBS, while the residual power is absorbed by a beam stop BSt.

The SAS setup (top view) is a double-pass configuration including a quarter-wave-plate QWP after atomic interaction, a fully reflecting planar mirror PM and a photo-detector PD after double-pass through the LWVC.

The optical magnetometer setup (bottom view) is a single-pass configuration including a QWP before atomic interaction and a polarimeter, which consists of HWP, PBS, PM and an amplified differential photo-detector (BPD).

As shown in <FIG>, top view, SAS is performed by sending <NUM> mW of a linearly-polarized <NUM> laser beam (Toptica DL100), tuneable around the Rb D1 transition, through the laser-written channel/chamber <NUM>, retro-reflecting with a planar mirror PM, and detecting the transmitted light with a <NUM> amplified photodetector PD. A quarter-wave plate QWP before the mirror PM flips the polarization between the two passes. The laser current is modulated at <NUM> to produce frequency modulation (FM) of the probe, and the detected photocurrent is demodulated to recover an error signal proportional to the derivative with respect to frequency of the transmission. The same technique is simultaneously applied, with the same laser power, to obtain the error signal from a commercial Rb cell with no buffer gas and a <NUM> internal length (not shown in <FIG>).

<FIG> shows SAS spectra for both the LWVC and the conventional reference cell. These resolve all sub-Doppler and crossover resonances for both 85Rb and 87Rb isotopes. With the LWVC stabilized at <NUM>, a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) comparable to that obtained with the conventional cell at room temperature is obtained. The inventors noted that the SAS features (the narrow absorption dips) are, due to pressure broadening, about ten times broader than the natural linewidth. A lower buffer gas pressure, either by sealing in vacuum or by further gettering by the dispenser material, is, for an embodiment, expected to reduce this width and give a corresponding boost in SNR.

To demonstrate the potential of LWVCs for application to quantum sensors based on atomic coherence, the present inventors performed measurements of zero-field magnetic resonance (ZFR) using an elliptically polarized single beam. The experimental setup is shown in the bottom view of <FIG>. The laser beam is partially circularly polarized by a quarter-wave-plate QWV so that the atomic ensemble is optically-pumped with a non-zero electron spin polarization PZ along the z-axis. Then, in the presence of a dc magnetic field applied in the transverse direction BX, the linearly polarized component of the same beam undergoes paramagnetic Faraday self-rotation, which is detected by a polarimeter, consisting of a half-wave-plate HWP, a PBS and a differential photo-detector BPD with switchable gain (Thorlabs PDB450A). For the magnetometry measurements, different DFB lasers were used at either <NUM> or <NUM>, tuned near the central D1 or D2 lines of 85Rb, respectively.

<FIG> show zero-field magnetic resonances for the D1 and D2 Rb lines when the transverse magnetic field BX is scanned over a range of about <NUM>µT. These experimental resonances demonstrate that optical pumping is, for an embodiment, performed in the laser-written atomic vapor cells (LWVCs) of the present invention, and that atomic sensors based on atomic spin coherence is, for an embodiment, realized with this manufacturing technique. Specifically, views a) and b) show rotation signals versus transverse field for D2 and D1 lines, respectively, acquired with <NUM> mW of probe power. Solid lines show experimental data, dashed lines show prediction of Eq. (<NUM>) explained below. Bottom, middle and top lines show rubidium number density n = (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) x <NUM><NUM>, respectively, corresponding to cell temperatures of T= (<NUM>, <NUM>, <NUM>) °C, respectively.

The physics explaining zero-field magnetic resonances, using a near-resonance single beam with elliptical polarization, is described in <NPL>). The detected differential signal is: <MAT> where V<NUM> is the signal amplitude (in Volt), ϕ ∝ PZ is the rotation angle, θ is the angle of the quarter-waveplate optic axis, relative to the initial linear polarization. In the here disclosed experiment θ = π/<NUM> was fixed as optimal trade-off between pumping and probing. The equilibrium spin polarization is: <MAT> A Lorentzian function of the transverse magnetic field BX, with half-width-half-maximum (HWHM) given byΔBx = Γ/γ, where the full relaxation rate Γ = <NUM>/τ is the inverse of the spin coherence time τ. By combining Eqs. (<NUM>) and (<NUM>) one can explain the line shape of the zero-field resonances shown in <FIG>.

The LWVC of the present invention is, for an embodiment, used either with laser optics in free space, as described above, or integrated into the integrated atomic/photonic device of the second aspect of the invention, as described above, for several applications in atomic and molecular spectroscopy as well as for atomic quantum sensing. The integration with optical waveguides and fibres can enable a plug-and-play operation of the disclosed LWVCs.

<FIG>, top view, depicts a typical spectroscopy application where light from a laser source <NUM>, near resonant with the atomic or molecular compound <NUM> in the reservoir <NUM> of the LWVC <NUM>, is fibre coupled <NUM>, propagates through the LWVC and it is detected with a photodetector <NUM> after atomic or molecular interaction. The LWVC device is heated with a heater element 134b to reach the desired density of the evaporable source <NUM>. The heater 134b is, for an embodiment, a Kapton adhesive underneath the LWVC in one embodiment, a bonded resistive serpentine in another embodiment or a transparent ITO heater in yet another embodiment, where it could be used to close bond the reservoir <NUM> too. In another embodiment the LWVC is, for an embodiment, heated by hot air or with fiberized light heaters. If the laser source is scanned with an appropriate modulation controller <NUM>, an absorption spectrum is detected at <NUM>. In another embodiment light can propagate in free space through the laser-written atomic/molecular channel/interaction area.

In the bottom view of <FIG> a different application is shown, particularly an application of the LWVC device for laser frequency stabilization. To get a saturated absorption spectroscopy signal, the transmitted beam is reflected back with a planar mirror <NUM> and does not change its polarization by double pass in a quarter-wave-plate (QWP) <NUM>, as described in the SAS experiments described above. Light is coupled back into the LWVC after reflection and, after double pass through the LWVC, is detected with a photodiode 138b. The laser <NUM> current or phase is, for an embodiment, modulated with a local oscillator <NUM> so that the saturated-absorption-spectroscopy signal is, for an embodiment, demodulated at the same frequency to get an error signal, e.g., with a Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) circuit <NUM> and a Servo system <NUM> is used to give feedback to the laser <NUM> to stabilize its frequency. The laser power is, for an embodiment, adjusted with a half-waveplate <NUM> and a polarizing beam splitter <NUM>. In another embodiment, the reflection mirror <NUM> is fiberized and the QWP <NUM> integrated in the device. In another embodiment, anti-reflection coating is applied to one side of the LWVC to reflect back the transmitted light.

<FIG> depicts an application of a LWVC <NUM> for a chip-scale atomic clock. In this embodiment a coherence population trapping (CPT) atomic clock is shown. The frequency of a laser source <NUM> is modulated with a RF Synthesizer <NUM> at frequency given by a main local oscillator <NUM>. A longitudinal magnetic field is generated with magnetic coils <NUM> and the system is enclosed in a magnetic shielding <NUM>. Laser light is fibre coupled (FC <NUM>) into the waveguide written in the LWVC and the optical mode is expanded and collimated with elements <NUM> and <NUM>, as described above with reference to <FIG>.

The laser light is, for an embodiment, circularly polarized before the fibre or the waveguide <NUM>, for example with a polarization rotator, a quarter waveplate <NUM> for the illustrated embodiment, or another polarization element for another embodiment (not shown).

When the modulation frequency is equal to half of the ground state hyperfine frequency difference, of the atomic species in the LWVC, a coherent superposition of the two hyperfine ground states that does not absorb the pump light anymore, i.e., a dark state, is generated.

When the frequency is changed around this frequency, a CPT resonance is detected in transmission on a photodiode <NUM> and the signal is processed at <NUM> to lock the frequency on resonance and to give an atomic clock output <NUM>. The LWVC device is, for an embodiment, heated with a heater element 134b to reach the desired density of the atomic ensemble/compound.

In another embodiment, not shown, a microwave cavity generates the atomic coherence instead of laser modulation.

In a further embodiment, not shown, light can propagate in free space through the laser-written chambers.

<FIG>, top view, depicts the application of a LWVC <NUM> for an optically-pumped-magnetometer (OPM), apart from the single beam scheme in free space, demonstrated above with reference to <FIG>. Here a resonant pump laser <NUM> (modulated at frequency given by a local oscillator <NUM>) and a near-resonance probe laser <NUM> are coupled into the same optical mode <NUM> and to the LWVC input waveguide. An integrated waveguide-based element <NUM>/<NUM>, e.g., a multi-order waveplate, circularly polarize the pump beam while keeping linearly polarized the probe beam light. The LWVC device is heated with a heater element 134b to reach the desired density of the atomic ensemble/compound <NUM>. Atomic polarization is generated in the LWVC sensing channel/chamber <NUM> by optical pumping.

In the presence of a transverse magnetic field B, to be measured, the atomic spins precess at Larmor frequency. This precession translates into paramagnetic Faraday rotation for the probe light, whose output is fiber coupled (<NUM>), spectrally filtered to block the pump light by an interference filter (<NUM>) and detected through a balanced polarimeter, which consists of a half-waveplate <NUM>, a polarizing beam splitter 160b, two photodiodes <NUM>/161b and a transimpedance amplifier <NUM>. The differential rotation signal is processed with a data acquisition system (magnetic signal processing unit <NUM>) and the Larmor frequency is extracted to give the magnetic field magnitude.

In an embodiment, the magnetic signal processing consists in frequency counters that do not need calibration. In another embodiment, a cross configuration with pump and probe beam mutually orthogonal are used, with a LWVC described in <FIG> below. In yet another embodiment, one pump beam and two probe beams interact with the same laser-written interaction area to give a vector magnetometer. In another embodiment, three LWVCs are combined with orthogonal channels orientation, to give a <NUM>-axis vector magnetometer. In a further embodiment, a magnetic sample is placed on the top facet of the LWVC <NUM>. In another embodiment, the magnetic sample <NUM> is placed in a microfluidic channel with inlet 164a and outlet 164b within the same material hosting the LWVC. This sample is, for an embodiment, a biological, liquid or an organ-on-chip that generates electromagnetic signals.

One particular application of OPMs using LWVCs and microchannels is the magnetic microscope depicted in the bottom view <FIG>. Here, the magnetic sample <NUM>, that is, for an embodiment, biological or a material, is placed at stand-off distance D <NUM> from the laser-written microchannels, i.e., from the chamber(s) <NUM>. D can go down to nanometre scale, so that the atomic sensor gets very close to the sample <NUM>. While the LWVC is used as an OPM, to give information about the magnetic field with sub-mm spatial resolution at <NUM> (as explained above with reference to the top view of <FIG>), microscopy <NUM> or imaging <NUM> information is, for an embodiment, obtained from the top of the sample <NUM>. An array of LWVCs can also be used for magnetic imaging. In another embodiment, light can propagate in free space through the laser-written chambers <NUM>.

<FIG> depicts the application of LWVC for an atomic NMR gyroscope. In this application the LWVC <NUM> can contain alkali atoms and noble gases in an embodiment, and alkali isotopes and noble gases in another embodiment, i.e., in a comagnetometer scheme. The LWVC device is heated with a heater element 134b to reach the desired density of the atomic ensemble/compound <NUM>. Atomic polarization of the alkali vapor is generated by a pump beam <NUM> which is fibre coupled 170b and circularly polarized by an integrated QWP <NUM>/<NUM>. A noble gas with non-zero nuclear spins also gets polarized by spin-exchange collisions with the alkali atoms.

Both a static and an oscillating magnetic fields are generated by magnetic coils <NUM> and the system is enclosed in a magnetic shielding <NUM>. The alkali spins precess about a total field, given by the sum of a static field B<NUM> and a field induced by the magnetization of the precessing nuclear spins of the noble gas, e.g., Xe. Longitudinal magnetic coils <NUM> drive the precession of the alkali atoms about the total field precession at much higher frequency.

A probe beam <NUM> is fibre coupled 170a to the LWVC input waveguide and monitors the precession of alkali atoms with a detection via balanced polarimetry, which consists of HWP <NUM>, PBS 175a, photodiodes 175b/175c, after passing through fibre couple 170c. The differential signal, amplified by a TIA <NUM>, has a double modulation at the high Larmor frequency of the alkali atoms and by the lower one of the noble gas.

When the apparatus is rotating about the applied scalar field B<NUM> , the noble gas Larmor precession frequency is modified by the rotation rate Ω, e.g., ωXe = γXeB<NUM>+ Ω, where γXe is the noble gas gyromagnetic ratio. Using a double stage phase-detection, e.g., demodulation or lock-in detection <NUM>, the change in precession frequency, i.e., the gyro signal <NUM>, is, for an embodiment, measured with high sensitivity. In another embodiment, light can propagate in free space through the laser-written chambers <NUM>.

Claim 1:
An atomic vapor cell, for atomic or molecular spectroscopy, optical pumping, and/or spin-based atomic sensing, comprising a host substrate (<NUM>) and defined there within a chamber (<NUM>) for containing an atomic vapor, wherein said chamber (<NUM>) is a buried or non-buried chamber laser written in said host substrate (<NUM>) without the need of a mask or photoresist, said chamber (<NUM>) having either planar or three-dimensional geometry, and wherein said atomic vapor cell is filled with said atomic vapor or with a source of material originating said atomic vapor.