US 12,449,256 B1
Compact grating magneto-optical trap sensor head for inertial navigation in dynamic environments
Jongmin Lee, Albuquerque, NM (US); Grant Biedermann, Norman, OK (US); Aaron M. Ison, Albuquerque, NM (US); Daniel Paul Gillund, Edgewood, NM (US); David Bossert, Albuquerque, NM (US); Kyle H. Fuerschbach, Albuquerque, NM (US); Charles A. Walker, Albuquerque, NM (US); and Peter Schwindt, Albuquerque, NM (US)
Assigned to National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, Albuquerque, NM (US)
Filed by National Technology & Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC, Albuquerque, NM (US)
Filed on Oct. 11, 2021, as Appl. No. 17/498,216.
Claims priority of provisional application 63/109,535, filed on Nov. 4, 2020.
Int. Cl. G01C 19/64 (2006.01); G21K 1/00 (2006.01)
CPC G01C 19/64 (2013.01) [G21K 1/006 (2013.01)] 18 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A compact grating magneto-optical trap sensor head comprising:
a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber adapted to support an atomic cloud for atomic interferometry, the vacuum chamber including at least one mounting port and at least two optical ports;
cooling beam optics, the cooling beam optics adapted to receive a cooling beam, the cooling beam optics adapted to create a flat-top cooling beam by causing a radial intensity of the cooling beam to be approximately uniform, the cooling beam optics adapted to transmit the flat-top cooling beam through a first of the at least two optical ports;
a reflective grating chip, the reflective grating chip adapted to receive the flat-top cooling beam and to diffract the received flat-top cooling beam into at least three diffracted cooling beams, the flat-top cooling beam and the at least three diffracted cooling beams adapted to cool the atomic cloud, the reflective grating chip being hard mounted to a first of the at least one mounting port, the reflective grating chip being located within the vacuum chamber;
atom detection optics, the atom detection optics adapted to receive atomic fluorescence from the atomic cloud;
Raman separator optics, the Raman separator optics adapted to receive a combined pair of cross-linearly-polarized Raman beams and to separate the combined pair of cross-linearly-polarized Raman beams into first and second counterpropagating Raman beams, the Raman separator optics adapted to direct the first and second counterpropagating Raman beams through a second of the at least two optical ports, the Raman separator optics adapted to direct the second counterpropagating Raman beam to the atomic cloud, the first and second counterpropagating Raman beams adapted to implement atomic interferometry with the atomic cloud;
Raman redirector optics, the Raman redirector optics adapted to receive the first counterpropagating Raman beam and to redirect the received first counterpropagating Raman beam to the atomic cloud such that the first and second counterpropagating Raman beams are substantially overlapping and counterpropagating through the atomic cloud; and
a pair of anti-Helmholtz coils, the pair of anti-Helmholtz coils adapted to generate a magnetic field gradient for a magneto-optical trap, the magneto-optical trap necessary to create the atomic cloud, a first of the pair of anti-Helmholtz coils adjacent a first face of the vacuum chamber, a second of the anti-Helmholtz coils adjacent a second face of the vacuum chamber opposite the first face of the vacuum chamber.