A Photonic Integrated Light Generation, Control, and Delivery Engine for Creating Cold Atoms
Abstract
The creation of cold atoms underpins quantum sensing and precision metrology, computing, timekeeping, and fundamental science experiments. Miniaturizing the lasers and optical infrastructure, which occupy over 80% of the volume of these experiments, through photonic integration could improve robustness, reliability, and manufacturability while reducing cost and enabling portable space-based precision measurements and quantum tools for non-experts. Yet, there has been limited progress towards integration of the laser and optical infrastructure required to generate cold atoms onto a single chip. We demonstrate a photonic engine that generates, controls, and delivers precision light to create cold atoms in a rubidium 3-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D-MOT). We integrate on a single chip two frequency-agile self-injection-locked lasers, laser frequency and intensity control, passive beam combining and splitting, signal monitoring, and high-efficiency beam delivery to a rubidium vapor cell. The integrated engine is shown to support multiple functions required for generating cold atoms including stable generation of low-noise cooling and repump light, frequency control for atom spectroscopy and stabilization, real-time laser monitoring, routing for laser offset locking, optical power modulation, and large-area three-beam delivery of 3 mW to the physics package. Fully electrically controlled, the engine enables sustained 3D-MOT operation, trapping more than 1 million atoms at an average temperature of 350 uK and supporting atom-number and temperature measurements. These results demonstrate the first single-chip integration of light generation, control, and delivery for cold-atom generation, offering a path toward smaller, more robust, and manufacturable cold-atom systems for applications including cold-atom clocks and sensors.
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BibTeX
@misc{isichenko2026photonic,
title = {{A Photonic Integrated Light Generation, Control, and Delivery Engine for Creating Cold Atoms}},
author = {Andrei Isichenko and Calisto Ruiz and Chuan Zhong and Nick Montifiore and Sam J. Harding and Meiting Song and Chenghang Liu and Nitin Indukuri and Karl D. Nelson and Daniel J. Blumenthal},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2610.17918},
eprint = {2610.17918},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17918},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A Photonic Integrated Light Generation, Control, and Delivery Engine for Creating Cold Atoms
AU - Andrei Isichenko
AU - Calisto Ruiz
AU - Chuan Zhong
AU - Nick Montifiore
AU - Sam J. Harding
AU - Meiting Song
AU - Chenghang Liu
AU - Nitin Indukuri
AU - Karl D. Nelson
AU - Daniel J. Blumenthal
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/13
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2610.17918
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.17918
AB - The creation of cold atoms underpins quantum sensing and precision metrology, computing, timekeeping, and fundamental science experiments. Miniaturizing the lasers and optical infrastructure, which occupy over 80% of the volume of these experiments, through photonic integration could improve robustness, reliability, and manufacturability while reducing cost and enabling portable space-based precision measurements and quantum tools for non-experts. Yet, there has been limited progress towards integration of the laser and optical infrastructure required to generate cold atoms onto a single chip. We demonstrate a photonic engine that generates, controls, and delivers precision light to create cold atoms in a rubidium 3-dimensional magneto-optical trap (3D-MOT). We integrate on a single chip two frequency-agile self-injection-locked lasers, laser frequency and intensity control, passive beam combining and splitting, signal monitoring, and high-efficiency beam delivery to a rubidium vapor cell. The integrated engine is shown to support multiple functions required for generating cold atoms including stable generation of low-noise cooling and repump light, frequency control for atom spectroscopy and stabilization, real-time laser monitoring, routing for laser offset locking, optical power modulation, and large-area three-beam delivery of 3 mW to the physics package. Fully electrically controlled, the engine enables sustained 3D-MOT operation, trapping more than 1 million atoms at an average temperature of 350 uK and supporting atom-number and temperature measurements. These results demonstrate the first single-chip integration of light generation, control, and delivery for cold-atom generation, offering a path toward smaller, more robust, and manufacturable cold-atom systems for applications including cold-atom clocks and sensors.
ER -