QuSeC-TAQS: Compact and Robust Quantum Atomic Sensors for Timekeeping and Inertial Sensing

冷原子是精密测量的主要工具。它们提供了时间和频率的通用标准，以及测试基本物理（如引力质量和惯性质量之间的等效原理）的稳定平台。尽管基于冷原子的移动设备具有革命性的潜力，可以彻底改变计时或不使用全球定位系统（GPS）的导航，但冷原子钟和干涉仪在很大程度上仍然是实验室规模的设备。在实验室环境之外使用冷原子系统的限制是由于大多数冷原子仪器的尺寸和复杂性，以及它们对不能直接测量的物理条件的敏感性，例如环境温度变化，杂散电磁场和组件的细微变形。该项目的目的是克服冷原子传感器的实施挑战，并展示紧凑和移动的原子钟和加速度计，这些原子钟和加速度计在实验室条件之外的现场保持最先进的性能。该项目将开发两个共享共同技术基础并具有互补功能的冷原子量子传感平台。一个可移动的冷铷原子干涉仪将提供差分加速度测量，一个便携式铯光学晶格时钟将支持远程地点的定时。这些设备将用于导航、基础物理研究和引力场的空间分辨测量。为了使这些冷原子系统小型化和坚固耐用，该项目将开发和集成一套光子芯片规模的硬件和算法，包括“量子传感器工具包”，其中包括激光和光学，用于传感器融合和校准的优化量子算法，以及纠缠的最佳利用。这些方法将扩大冷原子传感器在现实世界中的应用范围，并使实验室以外的科学调查成为可能，例如，在具有挑战性的地形上进行重力调查，以及在两极或空间进行精确测量。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Cold atoms are the workhorses of precision measurements. They provide universal standards for time and frequency, and stable platforms for tests of fundamental physics such as the equivalence principle between gravitational and inertial mass. Despite the transformative potential for mobile devices based on cold atoms to revolutionize timing, or navigation without Global Positioning System (GPS), cold-atom clocks and interferometers have largely remained laboratory-scale devices. The limited use of cold-atom systems outside of laboratory environments is due to the size and complexity of most cold-atom instruments, as well as their sensitivity to physical conditions that are not being directly measured, such as ambient temperature variation, stray electromagnetic fields, and subtle deformation of the components. The aim of this project is to overcome implementation challenges with cold-atom sensors and demonstrate compact and mobile atomic clocks and accelerometers that maintain state-of-the-art performance in the field, outside of laboratory conditions.This project will develop two cold-atom quantum sensing platforms that share a common technology base and have complementary functionalities. A transportable cold-rubidium atom interferometer will provide differential acceleration measurements, and a portable cesium optical lattice clock will support timing in remote locations. These devices will be useful for applications in navigation, fundamental physics studies, and spatially resolved measurements of gravitational fields. To miniaturize and ruggedize these cold-atoms systems, the project will develop and integrate a set of photonic chip-scale hardware and algorithms, comprising a “quantum sensor toolkit”, that include lasers and optics, optimized quantum algorithms for sensor fusion and calibration, and optimal leveraging of entanglement. These approaches will broaden the utility of cold-atom sensors in real-world scenarios and enable scientific investigations outside of the lab, for example, gravity surveys on challenging terrains and precision measurements at the poles or in space.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.