N121-100 TITLE: Reconfigurable Optical Traps for use with Compact Sources of Ultracold Atoms

TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Sensors, Battlespace

ACQUISITION PROGRAM: PMA264 Advanced Avionics Development P-3

OBJECTIVE: Develop reconfigurable optical traps for use with compact sources of ultracold atoms.

DESCRIPTION: Reconfigurable optical traps for use with compact sources of ultracold atoms would make possible widespread exploration of methods for use of ultracold atoms for navigation, timekeeping and sensing applications. Such custom-made traps are now used in advanced research laboratories, but it is possible to envisage lower-cost manufacturable versions that can be used to implement atom interferometry, magnetometry, precision timekeeping, frequency metrology, and gravitational and inertial measurements.

Candidate devices must be designed to work with at least one of the atomic species that has been laser-cooled to temperatures below 1 millikelvin (e.g., Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Ca, Sr, Cr, Er, Yb), and their compatibility with such species in typical conditions of laser cooling must be specifically documented. Competitive ranking factors will include: richness and flexibility of trap functionality, such as the production of optical lattices, ring structures or other unusual spatial configurations, and differential trapping of multiple species; sufficient bandwidth to allow for reconfiguration of the trap on time scales that are short compared to characteristic ultracold atom relaxation phenomena (e.g. 1 millisecond); simplicity of design, manufacturing, and end-user maintenance; appropriate incorporation of advanced optical technologies (e.g. spatial light modulators, holographic patterns, acousto-optic modulators).

This is a rapidly-evolving research field. No general-purpose plug-and-play devices have yet been designed or manufactured. That is the goal of this SBIR topic.

PHASE I: Design a reconfigurable optical trap for ultracold atoms. The Phase I deliverable is a report containing the following mandatory elements:
1. Narrative description of the basic trap functions, operating parameters, and an example of a relevant Trial Application (e.g. production of an optical lattice, atom interferometry, etc.).
2. Description of a specific source of ultracold atoms to which the trap is to be interfaced, including identification of atomic species to be trapped and typical number density and temperature of atoms within the effective volume of the trap, when trap is on or off. Conditions similar to those reported in published literature or available at proposer's facilities will be preferred.
3. Parts list of trap components with open-market price information where available.
4. Specification of necessary optical and electrical interfaces.
5. Estimates of power consumption during operation of trap.
6. Engineering drawings sufficient for fabrication of trap components and final assembly of trap.

PHASE II: Build a prototype trap or traps as described in the Phase I deliverable. Test the trap�s performance in a trial application with actual ultracold atom sources. (Optional: modify specification of trial application.) Optimize the trap with respect to performance in the trial application. Deliver a final version of the trap for validation of its performance in the trial application.

PHASE III: If the trial application has sufficient relevance to the operational Navy, the trap could become a central component of an atomic clock, frequency standard, magnetometer or other sensor. Alternatively, the trap might be developed as a general exploration platform for prototyping cold-atom applications in military and contractor laboratory environments.

PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIAL POTENTIAL/DUAL-USE APPLICATIONS: The trap could be used as a standard component in research laboratories, much as lasers are today, increasing the convenience of ultracold atom exploration while reducing the cost of necessary experimental infrastructure.

REFERENCES:
1. "Ultracold molecules: vehicles to scalable quantum information processing," K.-A. Brickman Soderberg, N. Gemelke, C. Chin, New J. Physics 11, 055022 (2009).

2. "Species-specific optical lattices," L. J. LeBlanc and J. H. Thywissen, Phys. Rev. A 75, 053612 (2007).

3. "A Quantum Gas Microscope for detecting single atoms in a Hubbard regime optical lattice," W. S. Bakr, J.I. Gillen, A. Peng, S. Foelling and M. Greiner, Nature 462, 74-77 (2009)

4. "Single-atom-resolved fluorescence imaging of an atomic Mott insulator," Jacob F. Sherson, Christof Weitenberg, Manuel Endres, Marc Cheneau, Immanuel Bloch and Stefan Kuhr, Nature 467, 68�72 (2010)

5. "Single-particle-sensitive imaging of freely propagating ultracold atoms," R Bücker, A Perrin, S Manz, T Betz, Ch Koller, T Plisson, J Rottmann, T Schumm and J Schmiedmayer, New J. Phys. 11 103039 (2009)

KEYWORDS: ultracold; atom trap; optical trap; laser; interferometry; atomic clock

** TOPIC AUTHOR (TPOC) **

DoD Notice:   Between November 9 and December 11, 2011, you may talk directly with the Topic Authors to ask technical questions about the topics. Their contact information is listed above. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed starting December 12, 2011, when DoD begins accepting proposals for this solicitation.

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