Rubidium vapor cellwith integrated nonmetallic multilayer reflectors

Perez, Maximillian A.; Nguyen, U.; Knappe, Svenja; Donley, Elizabeth A.; Kitching, John; Shkel, Andrei M.

doi:10.1109/memsys.2008.4443775

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Reflector cells were fabricated according to the process described previously in [4]. Briefly, a 1 mm thick <100> silicon wafer is wet through-etched in potassium hydroxide (KOH) with a silicon nitride hardmask with 1.8 mm square lithographically patterned openings.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The design of micromachined cells with integrated Bragg reflectors for rubidium vapor cells has been previously described in [4]. Briefly, the light reflected at the interface between each layer may be made to constructively interfere to maximize the total reflected optical power at a specific wavelength.…”

Section: Reflector Design Bragg Reflectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, uncoated silicon is not sufficiently reflective for use as a high performance mirror, losing 67 % of optical energy in bulk transmission. Previously, rubidium vapor cells with optical return performance superior to uncoated silicon have been demonstrated by use of multilayer dielectric reflectors integrated on the sidewalls of wet-etched silicon cavities fabricated using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) [4]. Although these reflectors have the potential to reflect light with negligible loss, large variations in the thin film thicknesses were observed due to the deposition technology, which limited the reflector performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robust Optical Design of Angled Multilayer Dielectric Mirrors Optimized for Rubidium Vapor Cell Return Reflection

Perez¹,

Kitching²,

Shkel³

2008

2008 Solid-State, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop Technical Digest

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This paper reports on the design and implementation of thin film multilayer dielectric to form Bragg reflectors on the sidewalls of micromachined atomic cells. Due to deposition shadowing, significant variations in the thicknesses of the thin films are encountered when the layers are deposited using PECVD. These gradients in thickness may limit optical performance of the reflector in atomic cells. An optimized design procedure is described to maximize the performance of the reflector at a wavelength of 795 nm under the variations in material thickness. In addition, an optical design based on two shifted quarter wave Bragg reflectors in series is used to form a reflector with extended optical bandwidth for added robustness. The extended reflectance range maintains high reflection at the D1 absorption wavelength of 87 Rb despite variations in uniformity greater than 70 %. The developed reflector technology is ideally suited for use in miniature rubidium vapor cells. We demonstrate less than 1.5 dB of return loss with circular polarization ellipticity maintained to ±2 • is demonstrated, as required for many atomic MEMS applications.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Reflector Design Bragg Reflectorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Robust Optical Design of Angled Multilayer Dielectric Mirrors Optimized for Rubidium Vapor Cell Return Reflection

Perez¹,

Kitching²,

Shkel³

2008

2008 Solid-State, Actuators, and Microsystems Workshop Technical Digest

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“…In 2008, Eklund et al utilized 100 µm-thick borosilicate glass wafers at 850 • C to manufacture a spherical glass vapor cell. The wafer-blowing process [45] includes deep reactive ion etching, bonding, blowing, and annealing.…”

Section: Spherical Alkali Vapor Cells Through Wafer Blowingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent Progress on Micro-Fabricated Alkali Metal Vapor Cells

Wang

et al. 2022

Biosensors

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Alkali vapor cells are the core components of atomic sensing instruments such as atomic gyroscopes, atomic magnetometers, atomic clocks, etc. Emerging integrated atomic sensing devices require high-performance miniaturized alkali vapor cells, especially micro-fabricated vapor cells. In this review, bonding methods for vapor cells of this kind are summarized in detail, including anodic bonding, sacrificial micro-channel bonding, and metal thermocompression bonding. Compared with traditional through-lighting schemes, researchers have developed novel methods for micro-fabricated vapor cells under both single- and double-beam schemes. In addition, emerging packaging methods for alkali metals in micro-fabricated vapor cells can be categorized as physical or chemical approaches. Physical methods include liquid transfer and wax pack filling. Chemical methods include the reaction of barium azide with rubidium chloride, ultraviolet light decomposition (of rubidium azide), and the high-temperature electrolysis of rubidium-rich glass. Finally, the application trend of micro-fabricated alkali vapor cells in the field of micro-scale gyroscopes, micro-scale atomic clocks, and especially micro-scale biomagnetometers is reviewed. Currently, the sensing industry has become a major driving force for the miniaturization of atomic sensing devices, and in the near future, the micro-fabricated alkali vapor cell technology of atomic sensing devices may experience extensive developments.

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“…In 2008, a micro-structured dual-focus optics based on micro-Fresnel lens was incorporated into a dual-pass reflective configuration [ 17 ]. In 2009, Bragg reflectors, composed of layers of amorphous silicon, silicon dioxide (SiO 2 ), and silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) were integrated, which improved the reflectance of angled sidewalls by nearly three times (as compared to that of uncoated silicon), resulting in an eight-times increase of the return reflection efficiency [ 18 ]. The variation in the dielectric thin film thickness due to the arrival angles of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was optimized by the deposition rate [ 19 , 20 , 21 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microfabricated Vapor Cells with Reflective Sidewalls for Chip Scale Atomic Sensors

et al. 2018

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We investigate the architecture of microfabricated vapor cells with reflective sidewalls for applications in chip scale atomic sensors. The optical configuration in operation is suitable for both one-beam and two-beam (pump & probe) schemes. In the miniaturized vapor cells, the laser beam is reflected twice by the aluminum reflectors on the wet etched 54.7° sidewalls to prolong the optical length significantly, thus resulting in a return reflectance that is three times that of bare silicon sidewalls. To avoid limitations faced in the fabrication process, a simpler, more universal and less constrained fabrication process of microfabricated vapor cells for chip scale atomic sensors with uncompromised performance is implemented, which also decreases the fabrication costs and procedures. Characterization measurements show that with effective sidewall reflectors, mm3 level volume and feasible hermeticity, the elongated miniature vapor cells demonstrate a linear absorption contrast improvement by 10 times over the conventional micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) vapor cells at ~50 °C in the rubidium D1 absorption spectroscopy experiments. At the operating temperature of ~90 °C for chip scale atomic sensors, a 50% linear absorption contrast enhancement is obtained with the reflective cell architecture. This leads to a potential improvement in the clock stability and magnetometer sensitivity. Besides, the coherent population trapping spectroscopy is applied to characterize the microfabricated vacuum cells with 46.3 kHz linewidth in the through cell configuration, demonstrating the effectiveness in chip scale atomic sensors.

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Rubidium vapor cellwith integrated nonmetallic multilayer reflectors

Cited by 7 publications

References 12 publications

Robust Optical Design of Angled Multilayer Dielectric Mirrors Optimized for Rubidium Vapor Cell Return Reflection

Robust Optical Design of Angled Multilayer Dielectric Mirrors Optimized for Rubidium Vapor Cell Return Reflection

Recent Progress on Micro-Fabricated Alkali Metal Vapor Cells

Microfabricated Vapor Cells with Reflective Sidewalls for Chip Scale Atomic Sensors

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