NIST is developing a new “Cold Core Technology” (CCT) platform to create miniaturized cold-atom sensors for various measurements. The platform integrates photonic elements like gratings and metasurfaces with cold atoms to simplify optical setups and enable new atom devices for metrology and quantum science.
The first flagship device, the Cold Atom Vacuum Standard (CAVS), will count background molecules in vacuum by measuring cold atom trap lifetimes. A portable version, the p-CAVS, is under development using a photonic grating chip to trap lithium atoms.
This technology promises a revolution in metrology, impacting measurements of acceleration, rotation, magnetic fields, electric fields, blackbody radiation, temperature, vacuum, and time. NIST aims to bring these cold-atom based sensors to real-world applications.
Source: https://www.nist.gov/programs-projects/cold-core-technology-platform
Keywords: Metrology, Cold Atoms, Photonics, Sensors, Vacuum
