Développement de micro−cellules à vapeur pour horloge atomique miniature

National audienc

Fabrication of wall-coated Cs vapor cells for a chip-scale atomic clock

International audienc

New approach of fabrication and dispensing of micromachined cesium vapor cell

International audienceWe describe the fabrication of wafer-scale alkali vapor cells based on silicon micromachining and anodic bonding. The principle of the proposed micromachined alkali cell is based on an extremely compact sealed vacuum cavity of a few cubic millimeters containing caesium vapors, illuminated by a high-frequency modulated laser beam. The alkali cells are formed by sealing an etched silicon wafer between two glass wafers. The technique of cell filling involves the use of an alkali dispenser. The activation of cesium vapors is made by local heating of the dispenser below temperature range causing degradations of cesium vapor purity. Thus, the procedure avoids negative effects of cesium chemistry on the quality of cell surfaces and sealing procedure. To demonstrate the clock operation, cesium absorption as well as coherent population trapping resonance was measured in the cells. (C) 2008 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineer

From the Implementation to the Characterisation and Assembling of Microfabricated Optical Alcali Vapor Cell for MEMS Atomic Clocks

International audienc