Physicists have printed a device for creating ultracold atoms: now quantum experiments will become more accessible

The scientists' development opens up access to a faster and more convenient way to create small, more

stable, customizable installations forquantum experiments.  Today, physicists use laser light and magnets to synthesize ultracold atoms. And the resulting atoms are used, for example, to identify even the weakest magnetic fields or create clocks with an accuracy of up to a quadrillionth of a second.  So physicists have long sought to use ultracold atom devices in a variety of settings, from space exploration, where they can aid in navigation, to hydrology, where they can pinpoint the location of groundwater by detecting its gravitational pull. But the process of cooling atoms sufficiently to perform any of these tasks is often complex and difficult.

The key to cooling and controlling atoms ishitting them with precisely tuned laser light. Hot atoms move at speeds of hundreds of kilometers per hour, while extremely cold atoms are almost motionless. Physicists make sure that every time a warm atom is hit by a laser beam, the light hits it in such a way that the atom loses some energy, slows down and becomes cooler. Typically, scientists work on a laboratory table measuring 1.5 m per  2.5 m, on which a “labyrinth” of mirrors and lenses is installed - optical components that control light. To control where all the ultracold atoms are in this chamber, physicists use magnets: their fields act like “fences.”

Compared to particle accelerators with a length ofa few kilometers or large telescopes, these experimental facilities are small. However, they are too large and fragile to be commercialized and applied outside of academic laboratories. Physicists often spend months aligning every little element in their optical labyrinths. Even the smallest shaking of mirrors and lenses - which can happen in the field - will result in significant delays. So the Nottingham researchers turned to 3D printing.

The installation of physicists takes up less than 0.15 volumecubic meter, which is slightly larger than a stack of 10 large pizza boxes. “This is very, very small. We have reduced the size by about 70% compared to a conventional setup,” says Somaya Madkhali, a Nottingham PhD student and first author of the study. To build it, she and her colleagues assembled their setup from blocks they 3D printed. Instead of crafting the vacuum chamber from strong but heavy metals, the team printed it from a lighter aluminum alloy. And they inserted the lenses and mirrors into a holder, which they also printed from polymer.

Received miniature setup successfullyworked. The team loaded 200 million rubidium atoms into their vacuum chamber and sent laser light through all the components of the optics, causing the light to collide with the atoms. The atoms formed a sample with temperatures below –267 degrees Celsius — just as scientists have done with more traditional instruments for the past 30 years.

The big advantage of using 3D printingis that scientists will be able to individually design each component. Therefore, the new research is a step forward in making this basic physics research tool more accessible and commercially available. Physicists speculate that such instruments will be used outside of academia, for example by companies making quantum sensors that sense magnetic or gravitational fields.

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