Miniaturized setups for magneto-optical trapping of Ytterbium and Strontium

Kurzfassung

Optical lattice clocks utilizing strontium (Sr) and ytterbium (Yb) are essential for high-precision metrology and the maintenance of critical infrastructure; however, their practical deployment is currently hindered by significant size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. While recent advancements have led to more compact architectures, the footprint and energy consumption of the atomic source remain a primary bottleneck.

In this work, we demonstrate key miniaturization technologies: a micro-structured chip-based oven and in-vacuum optics that enable a 3D magneto-optical trap (MOT) using only a single laser beam. When integrated with a pyramid reflector MOT, the LIDE-fabricated oven achieves loading rates exceeding 108 174Yb atoms/s at heating powers below 0.3 W. Furthermore, we demonstrate the trapping of 105 Sr atoms evaporated from the micro-oven within a compact, additively manufactured titanium vacuum chamber (V < 0.75 l) utilizing a grating-chip-based 88Sr MOT.