The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has selected eight research teams from industry institutions and universities to participate in the research on the "Science of Atomic Vapors for New Technologies" (SAVaNT: Science of Atomic Vapors for New Technologies) launched this week. project. These teams will develop innovative methods to challenge the performance limits of atomic vapor at room temperature and try to apply the unique advantages of this technology to the field of national defense. The project team consists of ColdQuanta, Georgia Institute of Technology , Quantum Valley Creative Lab of Canada, Rydberg Technology, Twinleaf LLC, University of Colorado, University of Maryland, College of William and Mary. DARPA also selected another research team, but has not signed a contract at present, and is expected to complete the contract signing in the next few months.
Quantum research in the field of information science and sensing has shown great promise for its application in a series of defense fields. However, a major obstacle to transforming laboratory breakthroughs into practical applications is the huge amount of equipment required to cool and trap atoms to take advantage of their quantum properties. The SAVaNT project team will focus on warm atomic vapor rather than cold atomic vapor technology. This method does not require complex laser cooling, and can use more atoms, thereby enhancing the signal. However, the challenge with this method is that "thermal environment effects" (even at room temperature) can significantly reduce the duration of quantum coherence. Therefore, the project team will focus on how to improve the coherence of atomic vapor at room temperature.
To this end, the SAVaNT project team will lay the foundation for new technologies needed to solve important defense applications and bridge the technological gap. Research will be conducted on small size, light weight, low power consumption (SWaP), high-sensitivity electric and magnetic field measurement applications, quantum information science applications that require strong atom-light coupling, etc.
The plan is implemented in two phases, and according to the atomic vapor technology, the application fields with the greatest impact are divided into three technical fields: Rydberg electric field measurement, vector magnetic field measurement and vapor quantum electrodynamics (vQED).Phase 1 will focus on demonstrating and verifying the basic progress of physics aimed at solving technical challenges. Phase 2 will demonstrate and verify the integrated desktop physical package and describe the performance application space.
The SAVaNT project research team plans to use different methods to maintain quantum coherence at room temperature. Among them, the Rydberg electric field measurement will carry out the following work:
1. The Canadian Quantum Valley Creative Laboratory team will study the design of a new atomic vapor chamber And reading methods to develop low-SWaP equipment for high-sensitivity Rydberg electrostatic measurement;
2. The ColdQuanta team will seek to combine RF heterodyne detection and a new type of field in the Rydberg atomic sensor in the atomic vapor chamber Enhanced technology to achieve high sensitivity and narrow instantaneous bandwidth; 3. The Rydberg technology company team seeks to improve the sensitivity of Rydberg's electric field measurement by developing new vapor preparation and reading methods and laser stabilization technology.
vector magnetic field measurement will carry out the following work:
1. The Twinleaf LLC company team aims to use a high alkali density quantum system to develop a new type of vector magnetic field sensor with high accuracy and sensitivity, and use alkali spin to keep coating Layers extend the quantum coherence time;
2. The University of Colorado team seeks to develop a new type of vector-scalar atom magnetometer in a small MEMS vapor chamber. By combining two independent measurement protocols and cavity enhancement technologies, it is expected that high accuracy can be achieved at the same time And high sensitivity;
3. College of William and Mary team will use a new vector field extraction method, which is based on the all-optical excitation and electromagnetic induction transparency (EIT) interrogation of the collection of atoms in the vapor chamber, and accurate Performance, long-term stability, and vector modalities are combined into a single sensing unit.
Vapor quantum electrodynamics will carry out the following work:
1. The Georgia Institute of Technology team will focus on the development of a new platform based on a new slot structure integrated with a chip-scale nanophotonic resonator to achieve quantum information applications The order of magnitude improvement in atom-light coupling;
2. University of Maryland team seeks to achieve strong atom-light coupling by integrating atomic vapor with a new chip-level high-Q nanophotonic cavity that uses slow light and positioning effects.
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