Project subject

All automated systems require sensing of the surrounding environment. The rising relevance of artificial intelligence in society demands sensors that are accurate, light-weight, cheap and robust.

Among the best laboratory sensors - including clocks, accelerometers, gyroscopes…- , those based on individual atoms stand out for their phenomenal stability and accuracy, but most are bulky and fragile and nearly all are expensive. CRYST^3 envisions a future technology where the core element, the sensor head containing the atoms, is greatly reduced in size and cost, and made more robust and more suitable for industrialization. The project will deliver the seminal contribution of a novel material where individual alkali atoms at microkelvin temperatures are encapsulated in the hollow core of a photonic crystal optical fiber, fully functional hermetically sealed and integrated with light sources. In this novel material, we expect novel physical phenomena: such as atoms acquiring long-range interactions that are mediated by the light field and tailored through the design of the fiber; spontaneous spatial ordering of the atoms, akin to crystallization and collective light scattering by the atoms in the form of superradiant emission.

CRYST^3 targets both scientific (in-fiber cooling, self-ordering and SR in atom filled HCPCF*) and technological breakthroughs (tailored and functionalized

 HCPCF, alkali-atom PMC*), requiring an efficient synchronization of several diverse activities shared among the Partners.

The work program is structured around three poles of activity segments; identified by separate WPs . The first Design and Technology Pole (WP1) entails the development of the technology building blocks, tailored and functionalized HCPCF, to achieve the first all-fiber alkali atom PMC and its scale-up for industrial use. The second, Science and Technology Pole (WP2), focuses on the micro-confinement of cold atoms, building experimental schemes for atom loading, trapping and cooling. The third, Seminal and Frontier Science Pole (WP3), targets the experimental observation of seminal science: in-fiber atom trapping and cooling, atomic self-ordering and superradiant light emission. Furthermore, to ensure a smooth execution of the above plan, a Management structure will be put in place (WP4), and to accelerate both the results dissemination and market adoption, a dedicated WP to manage the project Dissemination and Exploitation (WP5).